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waaspucopyy puv y2any) 2y7 fo MILA [DATUIS) 


Ts 


Guide to ee eee 
! 
Mount St. Sepulchre 


Cogether with a 

Tew Facts about 

the Order of St. Francis 
and its Work in the 

>| Holy Land and in 
America « « 


CY 


Washington, D. 2. 


St. Francis, 
— 


wa? always consider anything that tends fo 
sustain and heighten the glory of St. Fran- 
eis, as a happy event, Pope Leo XTII. 


TA* shone in the temple of God, as then orn 
ing starin the midst ofa cloud. 
Gregory IX. 


TH® was not so much a man praying; he was 
prayer itself, Thomas of Celano. 


UCH a life would be much better sung in 
heaven. Dante. 


HE spirit of St. Francis" the spirit which 
teaches Christian heartsto love and to imi- 
tate inthe midst ofa wealth and pleasure-seek- 
ing age, Him who, ‘‘being rich, became poor 
for your sakes, that through His poverty you 
might become rich.’’ Cardinal Vaughan. 


yee ses Europe has no idea of all it owes 
to St, Francis. Frederic Morino. 


WEET St. Francis of Assisi, 
Would that he were here again. 
Tennysou. 


RANCiIS OF ASSISI was the purest-hearted, 

the mostlovable, the most adorable, human 

being whom Christian history of 18 centuries 
has revealed to us. Dr. Shaw of Phila, 


St. Francis, from Statue at Assist, 
3 


Dear Visttor + 

This little book will accompany you back into the 
world, and will remind you of the solitude of Mt. St. 
Sepulchre. May it often recall to your mind the 
cherished shrines of our holy religion : Nazareth, 
Bethlehem, and Jerusalem, where God has manifested 
Lis exceeding great love toward men. 

Our prayers will ascend to the throne of the Most 
Ligh for those who have stood in this temple, and in 
return we beg you to remember tn your charity the 
needs of this House of God, and also the goed work 
whichis carried on here for the Holy Land, and the 
education of missionaries who are destined to live and 
work in the country which was once the home of Jesus, 
Our Saviour, 

THE FATHERS OF THE VIOE SEA, 


Mount St. Sepulchre, 
Washington, D. C. 


Tntroduction. 


\ or a hill beyond the litile 
village of Brookland, 
j near the Catholic University 
f at Washington, D. C., rise 
the Chapel and College of 
the Holy Land. The beauti- 
ful locaticn is specially 
/ adapted to its purpose by 
reason of its complete seclu- 
i sion, yet ready acccssibility 
| fromthe city. Following the 
example of the great Saints 
of the Seraphic Order, the 
Friars have selected a hill as 
the site of their new College and have named 
it Mount St. Sepulchre. f 

A tew years ago no visitor would have thought 
it worth while to wend his steps to this se- 
cluded spot, which was then occupied by an 
old time mansion of the McCeeney estate. In 
the first half of the century, according to local 
5 


tradition, the place was well cultivated and 
prosperous. Statesmen, dignified and pompous 
gentlemen of those days were often guests here 
and enjoyed the old time hospitality of the 
generous owner. But after it had passed ont of 
his hands, year after year of neglect and care- 
lessness had wrought its work, and the old - 
place was dreary enough to the eye. The 
beautiful trees had fallen a prey to the axe of 
the vandal, the well-cultivated orchard had dis- 
appeared and the fields had returned almost to. 
their primitive state, abounding in briars and 
shrubbery run wild. 

Such was its sad aspect when one day a 
stranger visited it. Impressed as he was with 
its neglected looks, he could not fail to see the 
rich possibilities that lay before him. The 
varied nature of the grounds, the grove on one 
hand and the slope on the other side, the fertile 
bottom land ; all this framed by a view of un- 
surpassed beauty so aroused his admiration that 
with the Psalmist he exclaimed: ‘‘ This is my 
rest forever and ever; here I will dwell for I 
have chosen it.”” (Ps.737, 74.) 

No place was more adapted to raise the mind 
to God and more fit for a monastery than this 
ileal spot, where from the hearts and lips of its 
dwellers a continual incense of prayer could 
rise, 

6 


Retracing his steps the stranger left the lonely 
hill. But this was not all. Months later the 
people of Washington were surprised by the 
news of the sale of the McCeeney estate, and 
rumor had it that it was to become the home of 
a religious community. 

Meanwhile the Holy Father had sanctioned 
the transfer of the Commissariat of the Holy 
Land and the foundation of a College for that 
Mission, His Eminence Cardinal Gibbons had 
graciously received the Franciscan Fathers into 
his diocese, and the Catholic University kindly 
extended a welcome to a new adjunct in that 
institution. 

Then it was definitely made known that the 
Franciscan Fathers had acquired tke lovely spot 
on the mount, and a few brothers were sent 
from the Commissariat of the Holy Land in 
New York to make such improvements as the 
future needs of the institution would warrant. 

Like the pioneers of old, they had to suffer 
hardships not a few. Alone they were and 
strangers, poorly furnished with the barest ne- 
cessities of life, yet they turned eagerly to their 
task. They divided their time between earnest 
prayer and hard work. Early in the morning 
they would trudge through the snow in the face 
of icy blasts that they might assist at or serve 
- the first Mass in the little village church, 

7 


*YIANYD BY} [0 MILA AOLAaIUT 


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Under their steadfast toil the desolate aspect 
of the grounds soon passed away, and in its 
place a garden, then the vineyard and an 
- orchard appeared. Briars gave way to the on- 
slaught of the plow, and tilled fields sprang up 
inthe wilderness. A view from the hill in the 
spring of 1899 showed a panorama of carefully 
arranged fields, well cared for and cultivated 
and framed by paths and by-ways lined with 
young trees. 

Ground was early broken for the new build- 
ing which to-day crowns the mount. The out- 
lines of the foundation showed a plan of quite 
unusual shape, so that the numerous visitors 
were puzzled to the uttermost as to the meaning 
of this novel structure. But time passed on, 
the builders labored, and slowly but solemnly 
rose the walls of the COLLEGE AND CHAPEL OF 
THE HOLy LAND. 

The scope of the buildings, as the visitor of 
to-day views them, is two-fold. The College is 
a Monastery and a missionary institution, which 
has for its object the harboring and educating 
within its walls such generous hearts as feel 
themselves prompted to serve the Holy Land in 
the Order of St. Francis. 

For this reason the College is built on the old 
monastic plan. Itis a large, rectangular build- 
ing, with a courtyard in the middle, which is 

9 


laid out asa garden, as in the old monasteries 
with walks, flowerbeds and shrubberies. The 
center is occupied by a cistern of great dimen- 
sions, in which the rain water from the roof is 
collected and stored up against summer 
droughts. The old oaken bucket reminds us of 
other days and serves, when it falls back into 
the cistern with a splash, to move and beat up 
the water every time itis used. This keeps it 
wholesome and fresh and provides the needful 
supply of oxygen, which the modern pump 
fails to do, being, like many other innovations, 
lacking in tke useful and healthful purposes 
found in the institutions of days gone by. 

The inner courtyard is surrounded on the 
first floor by the traditional cloister, a broad 
open gallery, which serves the : 
Friars for their walks on rainy 
days, when it is impossible to 
take the required exercise in 
the open air. This cloister 
can be closed in winter by 
glass partitions, should neces- 
sity require it. The cloister 
presents a Yy 
charming pic- 4 
ture and is 
always a fea- 
ture of the 


Well in the Cloister. 


10 


old monasteries. The restrictions of the Ser- 
aphic Rule and the lack of funds have made 
us desist from executing it in tnat artistic style 
found in the old abbeys, where beautiful 
carved columns and intricate screen work added 
to the pleasing aspect. Thespirit of St. Fran- 
cis demands strict simplicity and the endeavor 
has been to follow this to the letter. 

The cloister has a counterpart in the base- 
ment of the building, with the difference only 
that it is enclosed and lighted by windows. In 
the basement are workshops, storerooms for 
the agricultural products of the grounds, and 
the kitchen, pantry aud cellar. 

On the first floor, off the cloister, are the 
offices of the Commissariat of the Holy Land to 
the south, the college rooms and study halls to 
the north and the refectories and recreation 
rooms to the east. 


SN ee a 


N 


The Holy Sepulchre. 8. Main entranceto Church. 
Stairways to Mt. Calvary. 9. Chapel of St. Antony. 
Sacristy. 10. Altar of the Sacred Heart 
Chapel of Penance. over Grotte of Nazareth. 
oat of the Cenacle. 11. Chapel of St. Francis. 
Altar of the Holy Ghost, 12. Center of Church, show- 


over Grotto of Bethlehem. ing position of Martyr's 
Chapel of Portiuncula, Crypt, 
12 


Che Architecture of the Chapel and 
Monastery. 


“ How lovely are Thy Tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts.” 
Ps. LXXXTITI/., 1. 


NE of the characteristics of the building 
that rises on Mount St. Sepulchre, is 
the architecture taken from that style which, 
being inspired by the ancient monuments, has 
become in Italy the accepted type of religious 
architecture. For the part of the building 
which is destined to be the home of the relig- 
ious and the students of the new college, arch- 
itecture has produced a special construction 
which we may call monastic and which was 
used greatly in the Middle Ages. This has for 
its object reconcentration and isolation, so that 
through its material aid, the mind may instinc- 
tively be brought to give itself to study, medi- 
tation and prayer. 

That style of monastery which obtains its 
highest effect from the great simplicity of its 
proportions and the majestic sweep of its 
outlines is especially conspicuous in the iuner 
court, which forms the characteristic part of 
the whoie building. AM the ancient monastic 
buildings, beginning with the Benedictine Mon- 
asteries, were built in this style. They de- 
veloped themselves around a cloister, which not 
only facilitated communication between the 

3 


A Glimpse of the Ciotster 
14 


various parts of the building, but also afforded 
to the monks a place of recreation when they 
* abandoned fora short time the solitary cell. 

O: the west side the Monastery is connected 
wit! the Church. The latter is separated from 
the cloister by a large corrider to which secu- 
lars are admitted, and which serves as a pas- 
sage between the Commissariat and the College 
and the various appurtenances of the Church 
and Monastery, 

The architecture of the Church is based on 
the general outlines of the Byzantinestyle, with 
a slight transition to the Italian renaissance in 
its details, so that the artistic effects of the 
great Hagia Sofia and the beautiful Certosa of 
Pavia have been adapted to Franciscan sim- 
plicity. The church is in the shape ofa five- 
fold cross, which was the coat of arms of the 
Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, adopted by God- 
frey of Bouillon, the large cross forming the 
iain body of the Church and the smail crosses 
being represented by the chapels. The same 
emblem is reproduced in the pavement of the 
Church in Venitian mosaic, so that the whole 
structure, resting-on that emblem, declares at 
once the scope and plan of the institution itself. 
This cross, which appears again and again in 
Mt. St. Sepulchre, is symbolic of the Five 
Wounds of our Lord, and is shown beautifully 


15 


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onthe candelabra before the Holy Sepulchre. 
It greets the pilgrim’as he draws near the church 
and is never absent from his sight, reminding 
him continually of the Mission of the Holy 
- Land. 

The central aisle of the large cross has at 
the entrance of the Churcha portico which sup- 
portsa gallery. At the other end is the sanc- 
tuary, the point of attraction for which the 
whole structure has been arranged. The two 
extremities of the transepts of the Church are 
closed off by two elegint apses, to which light 
enters through a series of smallarches. The 
general decoration is principally formed by the 
eight entrances into the chapels, in which the 
decoration of the main crossis repeated This 
triple arch serves also as a base for the upper 
arches, which increase the light in the two first 
chapels and form windows in the two choirs 
above the rear chapels. These arches again 
support the upper windows, so that the whole 
arrangement of rows of columns and arches of 
various sizes forms an elegant ornamentation of 
the Church. 

The ceiling is partly vaulted and partly flat 
and is ornamented with panels and rosettes of 
various designs. It has been already mentioned 
that the sanctuary forms the main: point of 
attraction of the Church. Indeed, there is to be 


17 


‘WSOYUD AO 2y, {0 Av] Y 2y} pADvmo] Juryoos ‘yIANYD ay) fo AotAaqur 


found the Holy Sepulchre, precisely as it exists 
in Jerusalem, with all its decorations. Two 
marble stairways one on either side of it lead to 
Mount Calvary, which forms the high altar of 
the Church. On the level of Calvary, ou both 
sides of it, arethe entrances to the two choirs 
which are destined for the psalmody of the 
Divine Office. 

In the apses in both extremities of the tran- 
septs are entrances to the underground chap- 
els, the one tothe right being a reproduction 
of the Grotto of Nazareth, and the one to the 
left, of the Grotto of Bethlehem. These two 
grottos are connected with each other by an 
underground passage in the shape of the Cata- 
combs of Rome, which has in its centre a crypt 
in imitation of the ancient sepulchral chambers 
where an altar was erected over the tomb of 
some eminent martyr. 

From this crypt another underground corridor 
leads to the subterranean Chapel of the Poor 
Souls, which is intended for funeral services, 
and whence two stairways lead back into the 
Church near the Holy Sepulchre. 


19 


Plan of the Holy Sepulchre 


z. Chapel of the Angel. 2. Stone of the Angel. 
3, The Holy Sepulchre. 


Je 
20 


Entrance to the Tomb of Our Lord. 


Che Holy 
Sepulchre. 


“ Andtf Christ be nol 
risen again, then ts our 
preaching vain and 
your faith 7s also vain. 

“ But now Christ ts 
risen from the dead, the 
Jirst-frutts of them that 
sleep. 


“ Thanks be to God, 
who hath given us the 
victory through our 


‘Lord Jesus Christ.” 


We GOI aly ifs 205 57. 


21 


NSTINCTIVELY, as one enters the church, 
the eye seeks the hight altar, where stands 

an exact reproduction of the Holy Sepulchre. Be- 
fore it burn two 
handsome candela- 
bra in the shape of 
the fivefold Cross 
of the Holy Land, 
the gift of Benziger 
Brothers. As the 
pious pilgrim, who 
has overcome the 
many difficulties of 
the journey, beholds this 
shrine so dear to the heart of 
every Catholic, so is the pil- 
grim to Mt. St. Sepulchre 
brought face to face, as 
though in a vision, or a mir- 
age, or through some manner 
by which time and space are 
annihilated, with the place 
where the Lord was laid. A 
minute ago we stood at the 
doorway and gazed at the 
purple hills, the distant val- 
leys and far-reaching fields 
of America. A step, and the 
New World is behind us and 


22 


One of the Candelabra. 


Bas-Relie; over door of Holy Sepulchre. 


forgotten—for surely this place, whose very air 
breathesa holy calm and peace can have nothing 
in common with the busy-realms of commerce 
and the noisy marts of trade we lately came 
from. } 

Good friend and fellow-pilgrim, will you not 
kneel beside me here for the benefit of prayer 
and make this pilgrimage in the same spirit 
that you would were you of a truth in the Holy 
City? The quaint carvings that have met the 

23 


eyes of so many generations of faithful Chris- 
tians are here before us, reproduced by the skil- 
ful hand of the artist. The bas-relief, in the 
Greek style, shows the Saviour standing trium- 
phantly on the open tomb, while on one side 
the drowsy guards look up to him in wild as- 
tonishment, and on the other the angel an- 
nounces the great tid'ngs to the holy women. 
Adoring angels add to the scene, in which the 
sun and moon and stars appear as silent wit- 
nesses to the great event. Between the panels 
to the rightand left isa low door that leads to 

oops ~ 2 the outer room of the 
’. Tomb. Inthe middle of 
’ this, supported by a low 
pedestal, there is a stone 
culled the Stone of the 
Angel, the original of 
which, tradition avers, is 
= a fragmert of the very 
stone on which the Mes- 
senger of Heaven rested 
when he told the glad 
tidings on that glorious 
Easter morning nineteen 
hundred years ago. The 
(| copy contains a stone 
from Jerusalem, which, 
so to say, stands guard 
Stone of the Angel. 74 


é 
f 
fs - si Sa SIO ste REE 


The Holy Sepulchre, 


25 


at the Tomb of the Saviour in America. 

And now, through another door, lower even 
than the first, and we have reached the place 
where the body of our dear Lord was laid. From 
the ceiling depend memorial lamps and above 
the place where the Saviour of Men reposed, 
there is a bas-relief representing the Resur- 
rection, a copy of Raphael, executed by Mr. 
James F. Earley of Washington, D. C., who 
made the other relief work in the church. Itis 
a replica of the silver panel that Cardinal An- 
tonelli donated to the Holy Sepulchre. Here 
the Tomb from which the Saviour rises, contains 
the tabernacle, which is the Tomb of the Eu- 
charistic Godin the Church. Otherwise the 
room is bare and devoid of ornament. But here 
one does not seek beauty; the beauty of the 
spot is the beauty of holiness, the beauty that 
enriches the bare cell of saint and hermit be- 
yond allthe splendors of palaces of kings and 
emperors. Before this low shelf, sheltered by 
precious marble, let us pray and meditate on 
the lessons that the time and place bring to our 
hearts. 

In order to protect the place where the Sacred 
Body reposed from the touch of profane hands 
aslab of the most perfect marble was placed 
over it. Knowing well the greed of the Turks 
who would gladly seize a stone of so much value, 

5 26 


Bas-Relief within the Holy Sepulchre. 
27 


cunning workmen cut a crevicein the slab, imi- 
tating toa nicety a crack, such as would have 
resulted had the marble been broken across. 
The artifice serv.d its purpose well, and, al- 
though the crack does not extend all the way 
through the marble, it remains in the Hely 
Sepulchre in Jerusalem to-day, where the pil- 
grim may view it, even as we now see it repro- 
duced before us. ‘‘ And His Sepulchre shall be 
glorious.”” (/sa. 77, 70.) 

And this is, indeed, holy ground. For here 
come the Fathers of the convent to say Holy 
Mass, and offer up the Divine Sacrifice. Ard 
as the years come and go, countless pilgrims 
will kneel here to offer up their devotions, in- 
spired to more fervid faith by these striking re- 
minders of the awful Price of our Redemption. 
It overpowers, it thrills, it fills the heart so full 
of the divine love that prayer rises to the lips 
like water from a fountain overflowing. 

A few steps, and again we are in the light 
that dazzles our eyes with its brightness. Surely 
we must have been of a truth traveling in Jeru- 
salem only a minute agone, for that seems the 
reality and this the unreal. 


ey 


Plan of the Grotto of Nazareth, 


1. Stairway leading to upper church. 
a Chapel of the Angel on site of the Holy House of Loretto. 


. Altar of St. Gabriel. 6. Altar of the Annunciation. 
%. Altars of Sts. Joachim and 7. Broken Column. 
Anne. 3: Chapel of St. Joseph. 


5+ Grottoofthe Annunciation, 9. Entrance to Catacombs, 


Mount Zalvary. 
“Rearing his owa cross, he went forth to that placé 
whicnis called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha, where 
they crucified him.” John xix. 17, 18. 


BOVE the Holy Sepulchreis MountCalvary , 

the altar being a replica of the one in Jeru- 
salem. Two steep stairways, one on either side 
of the Sepulchre, lead up to it. Behind the altar 
is an impressive group of the Crucifixion, repre- 
senting our Lord on the Cross, surrounded by 
figures representing the Blessed Virgin and St. 
John, the beloved disciple. It isa gift of the 
Lenne family of Cologne, who wished to erect 
this monument in America as a perpetual mem- 
ory of their faith. 

To this group belongs the statue of St. Mary 
Magdalen to the left. Here is the pattern of 
the penitent sinner, who after her fall, looks to 
the Cross for mercy and consolation. Ever after 
her conversion this pen- 
itent one earnestly fol- 

lowed theSaviour, where- 
© for she was favored with 
His apparition early on 
Easter morn, when He 
spoke to her the mem- 
orable words ; ‘‘ Do not 
touch me, for I am not 
yet ascended to my 

30 


One 0; the 
Memorial Lamps. 


Father. But go to my brethren, and say to 
them: I ascend to my Father and to your 
Father, to my God, and your God.’ (John, 
He EZ.) 

To the right a beautiful Pzeta denotes the 
place where, after the descent from the Cross, 
the lifeless body of the Saviour rested in the 
arms of His sorrowful Mother. It is a gift of 
Mrs. Helen Dannemiller-Neuhausel, a member 
of the first American Catholic pilgrimage, in 
memory of her visit to the Holy Shrines. 

Here the Church places the doleful words of 
Jeremiah on the lips of the Mother of Dolors: 
“O all ye that pass by this way attend and see 
if there be any sorrow like to my sorrow.’’ 
(Lament of Jeremiah, i, 72.) 

The platform of Calvary corresponds in 
height withthe elevation of that holy place in 
Jerusalem from the 
level of the basilica. 
The vault covering 
the sanctuary has 
been omitted in 
order to obtain 
light from above, 
where instead a 
stained glass win- 
dow will represent 
the Eternal Father 
looking down 


in sorrow on His Divine Son, who offered 
Himself for the sins of the world. 

At either side of Calvary doors lead into the 
choirs, closed to visitors, where the religions 
gather to recite the Divine Office, which is 
psalmodized or chanted, according to the 
solemnity of the occasion. The solemn per - 
formance of the Divine Office is one of the fore- 
most of monastical institutions, the praise of 
God being regarded among the chief occupa- 
tious of the religious. 

The altar is of the usual Greek style, and 
covers the place where the Cross was planted. 
Pilgrims from all the world have bathed with 
their tears this holy spot in Jerusalem, which 
was saturated with the blood of the Lamb. 

To the right is a rent in the rock, which re- 
minds of the words of Holy Scripture : ‘‘ And 
behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two 
from the top even to the bottom, and the earth 
as and the rocks were rent.’’ (Wath. 27, 
52 


32 


— 


Che Grotto of Nazareth. 


“ And He went down with them and cameto Nazareth 
and was subject to them.” Luke I1., 5. 


From Jerusalem to Nazareth—not, indeed, by 
the tiring journey over the barren hills and 
dales of Palestine but by a few steps across the 
Church to the apse at the epistle side of the 
Chapel. Here a broad stairway leads down to 
the Grotto. 

Descending the stairway we notice on both 
sides of the wall a horizontal bar surmounted by 
acircle. They denote the limits of the founda- 
tion of the Holy House, which was transported 
by the hands of angels first to Tersate in Dal- 
matia in the year I291, and then a few years 
afterwards to Recanati and Loretto, where it 
has remained ever since. 

The foundations were found in 1620, when 
the Fathers made excavations at Nazareth for 
the purpose of building a new church over the 
Shrine. Measurements show that the dimen- 
sions of the foundations tally exactly with the 
walls of the Holy House at Loretto. 

According to tradition the house wherein the 
Holy Family lived consisted of one single room 
and it was built against a natural cave, 
with which it was connected by an opening. 
This is quite a usual arrangement in the houses 

33 


Altar of the Annunciation, 
34 


of Nazareth. Tradition also relates that the 
Blessed Virgin was engaged in prayer in the 
Grotto when the angel appeared to her from 
the opening of the room. 

A charm of poetry surrounds the name of 
Nazareth. The message of the angel, the mys- 
tery of the Incarnation, the boyhood and youth 
of Jesus, the hidden life of the Holy Family, 
the workshop of St. Joseph, all these subjects 
come to one’s mind, when the little town in 
Galilee is mentioned. From there the Ave Maria 
resounded over the entire world, and re-echoes 
daily from the lips of millions of devout Chris- 
tians. 

With these sentiments we now approach the 
Grotto that brings to our minds the place where 
the Word was made flesh. 

In the open space first entered, which is 
known as the Chapel of the Angel, there are 
two altars, the one to the left hand being dedi- 
cated to the Archangel Gabriel and the other to 
St. Joachim and St. Anne. 

Descending two steps we are before the altar 
of the Annunciation, which in Nazareth marks 
the very spot where the Archangel declared un- 
to Mary that she would become the Mother of 
the Saviour. Underneath and in front of the 
altar the.Cross of the Holy Land is set and at 
the bottom of the altar, just below the mensa, a 

35 : 


stonefrom Nazareth indicates the place of the 
Annunciation. The altar piece, representing 
the mystery of this holy place, is a copy of 
Luca Della Robbia’s work, by Mr. James F. 
Earley. 

At the left of this altar is seen the reproduc- 
tion of a curious feature of the original chapel, 
a fragment of a granite column depending from 
the roof, a shaft of the ancient church. After 

36 


the fire of 1638 the Mogr-- 
bins (Africans) in search of 
hidden treasure, cut the col- 
umn in two, leaving the up- 
per part suspended from the 
ceiling. A portion of an- 
other shaft has been placed 
under this to prevent any- 
one passing under it. 

At the epistle side of the 
Altar of the Annunciation a 
doorway opens into a chapel 
which containsan altar dedi- 
cated to St. Joseph fleeing 
into Egypt. A part of this 

= Grotto was repaired hy 

oF =~ mason work, as shown by the 
se ST reproduction we see before 
i 
A fragmentofagranite US. 

column. At Nazareth a passageway 
leads from the Grotto into an interior cave called 
the Kitchen of the Blessed Virgin. .The en- 

trance has only been indicated here. 

So careful has the reproduction of this Holy 
Shrine been made, that one even sees before 
him the facsimile of the bench on which the 
Turkish sentinels sit while mounting guard in 
the Grotto at Nazareth. 

From the Chapel of the Angel a door on the 


a> 
o/ 


right-hand side leads into a passage, dark nar- 
row and winding and decorated with recesses, 
such as are found in the Catacombs in Rome. 
This brings us to 


FID 


38 


Symbolical Fresco. 


The Martyr’s Crypt. 


“T saw under the altar the souls of them that were 
- slain for the Word of God.” Apoc. v1., 9. 

This is a subterranean Chapel,circular in form, 
and a perfect reproduction of one of the many 
Chapels to be found in those labyrinthine 
hiding places of the early Christians. The 
body of St. Benignus, brought from the 
Roman catacombs, finds here a resting place 
under the altar. It was transferred from 
the cathedral at Narni to Mount St. Sepulchre, 
where it will receive the veneration of the 
faithful, who, descending underground, will 
remember amid how many persecutions and 

39 


Flan of the Martyr's Crypt. 


1. Altar of St. Benignus. 
2. Entrance to the Catacombs, 


4° 


hardships the first Christians professed their 
faith. 

The crypt is directly under the centre of th: 
dome of the Church. 

The decorations are in the ancient style of the 
Catacomb decorations by Mr. Chas. C. Svend- 
sen, a well-known artist of Cincinnati, who 
some years ago visited Rome and the Holy 
Land. ‘The decoration in the niche represents 
the Saviour raising H's hanlin blessing. The 
figure to the right is 
St. Stephen, the first 
martyr of Jerusalem. 
The one tothe left St. 
Benignus. The picture 
of the Saviour is sur- 
rounded by a series of 
symbolical figures. 

The symbolism of 
the early Cbristian 
Catacomb _ pictures 
had a deep religious 
meaning, and the 
symbolsintroduced in 
this fresco, copied 
from the originals in 
the catacombs of 
Rome, are examples 
of the more important 


ones. Beginning with the left lower corner 
they are: 

1. The Peacock or Phoenix, the emblem of 
the resurrection of the body. 

2. Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the 
end. 

3. The Anchor, the symbol of hope, and the 
Fish and Rings, symbols of the sacrament of 
marriage. 

4. The Church emblematized as a tree bear- 
ing fruit, and shelter- 
ing a lamb. 

5. The White Dove, 
symbol of innocence. 

6. The central de- 
sign, symbol of the 
Christian triumph over 
sin and temptation. 

7. The Dove bearing 
the olive branch, 
symbol of peace. 

8. The Banner of 
Christ conquering evil; 
the reptile and the 
inscription, ‘‘ In this 
sign thou shalt con- 
quer.” 

g. The Hand, hold- 
ing tablet on which 


appears this inscription: ‘‘ You will live,” a 
symbol of steadfast faith. 

Io. The Fish, symbol of baptism. 

11. The Holy Trinity. 

12. The Lamb, symbol of Christ standing 
above the four fountains, the four Gospels from 
whence flow the waters of salvation: ‘‘The 
water that I will give him shall become in him 
a fountain of water springing up into life 
everlasting.” (S#. John tv: r4.) 

From this crypt a short passageway leads to 
another chapel lighted by a glass flooring in the 
Church above. This large and roomy enctosure is 


43 


KRONA 


Plan of the Purgatory Chapel. 
Chapel dedicated to the Holy Souls. 
. Altar of the Holy Souls, 
. Stairway leading to upper church. 
. Lntrance to Catacombs. 
44 


the Purgatory Chapel 
DEDICATED TO 
The Poor Souls. 


Here will repose the bodies of those who die 
in the convent, before they are taken away for 


burial. 


Here also will be offered the Sacrifice of the 


Mass for the deceas- 
ed benefactors of 
the Monastery. An 
altar of black mar- 
ble will be placed 
in this Chapel and 
an appropriate re- 
lief imported from 
France will bring 
before the mind of 
the pious visitor the 
sufferings of those 
who are detained in 
the ante-room of 
heaven until they 
have atoned as 
though by fire for 
the lesser faults 
and shortcomings 
that keep them 


from appearing be- 


fore the Throne of 
God. Itis asthongh 


45 


View through the Catacombs. 


we hear their pitiful supplication: ‘‘ Have 
pity on me, have pity on me, at least you 
my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath 
touched me.” (Job 79-21.) 

This Purgatorial Chapel isin a special way 
calculated to make us think of death, the inex- 
orable enemy of mankind, who was brought in- 
to the world by sin ; but also the great liberator 
from all the woes and troubles of the earthly 
life. Death is a terror to all, he spares no class 
of society, no age, no sex, no calling in life, no 
spiritual nor temporal authority. Suddenly 
and without warning death comes to men with- 
out regard to circumstances ; the individual that 
is summoned must obey the fatal call and begin 
his march to the grave. 

But death, so formidable to the worldling, 
who has set his heart on the treasures and 
pleasures of this life, becomes a warm friend 
and a welcome liberator to him who considers 
this visitor in his real quality as a messenger of 
God. Death leads on to resurrection. From 
this vale of tears death transports us into the 
realms of eternal bliss. 

Can there be any more welcome friend than 
the one who delivers us from bondage and 
suffering ? Would the sick man not look np 
with gratitude to the physician, who in one 

46 


se 
) 


In the midst of life we are in death. 47 


moment could cure him of his ailments and re- 
instate him in perfect health ? 

Death therefore is our greatest friend, if we 
treat him as such and try to become familiar 
with him. We mustlook upon him no longer 
as the executioner from the garden of Paradise, 
but as the friendly messenger of God, who is 
sent to invite us to the heavenly banquet. All 
that is necessary is that we always be prepared 
to meet him. We must learn to look forward 
to his coming with a sort of yearning ; we must 
study him and his ways, the possible time and 
place of his arrival and the way of receiving 
him. 

This is a very serious affair which most men 
never study. They learn all the sciences of this 
world, they are great in life, but very few learn 
how to die well. This science, which is only 
taught in the school of Christ Crucified, is one 
of the chief objects of religious life, and it is 
therefore well befitting that the Monastery pos- 
sess here, so to say, a class room and lecture 
hall of its own, where by object lessons the re- 
ligious, and others who wish it may be initiated 
into the principles of a happy death, where 
illustrative scenes represent to our mind, not 
only the terrifying features, but also the con- 
soling and even the gladdening character of 

48 


STE he 
PG 


49 


this despised and misunderstood angel of the 
Most High. 

They show how disobedience has called 
death into the world, ‘‘ Wherefore as by one 
man sin entered into this world and by sin, 
death, and so death passed upon all men in 
whom all have sinned.” (Rom. v.12). How 
only the sinner needs fear him. ‘‘The death 
of the wicked is very evil and they that hate the 
just shall be guilty.”’ (Ps. 33-22). How even 
the Son of God has bowed to him, but through 
his glorious resurrection has rendered him 
harmless. ‘‘O Death, where is thy victory, O 
Death, where is thy sting?’ (/. Cor. xv. 55), 
and how thus death has become a source of con- 
solation to the just. ‘‘Blessed are the dead, 
who die in the Lord.’ (Afoc, xiv. 13). 

This study of death is of great advantage to 
every Christian, and therefore we sce that the 
Saints have used to advantage the two great 
books of death: The Crucifix and tke Skull. 
At the end of life, when death sweeps away 
crowns and ermine, treasures, palaces, the rich 
garments and the tatters of the poor, into one 
grave, those who have studied the science of 
dying will be the wisest in the end. ‘‘ We fools 
esteemed their life madness, and their end 
without honor.” (Wis. v. 12.) 

Just as the astronomer gazes through his tele- ' 

5° , 


scope into the starry world above and discovers 
wonders invisible to the naked eye, sothe saints 
bent on unraveling the mysteries of eternity 
discover through the dark tunnel of death those 
beautiful shores of which the Apostle says: 
“But asit is written: that eye hath not seen, 
nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the 
heart of man, what things God hath prepared 
for them that love Him.’? (om. v. 12.) 

Returning to the Martyr’s Crypt, we take the 
catacomb passage to the right and follow it 
until we reach ; 


Requtescat tn Pace. 
51 


ST SIS 


Plan of the Grotto of Bethlehem. 


Grotto of the Nativity. 6. Stairway to the 


Altar of the Nativity. church. 

Place of the Manger. 7. Entrance to the 
Altar of the Magi. combs, 

Bench of the Turkish 

Soldier. 


52 


upper 


Cata- 


The Grotto of Bethlehem. 


“Joseph went up from Galilee out of the city of Naz- 
areth into Judea to the city uf David which ts called Beth- 
lehem, because he was of the house and family of David.” 
Luke ll., 4,5- 


ERE we see before us in a semicircular 
niche between two stairways, the sacred 
Shrine, with a silver star set in the marble of its 
flooring, precisely like the one that in Bethle- 
hem marks the holy spot where our Lord was 
born. Around the silver star is this inscription 
in Latin: ‘‘ Hicde Virgine Maria Jesus Chris- 
tus natus est.’ ‘‘ Here Jesus Christ was born 
of the Virgin Mary.’ Above it burn votive 
lamps day and night, the offerings of pious 
benefactors. A large marble slab forms the 
altar table, and in the niche we see a relief fig- 
ure of the Infant. Jesus. 

The scene of this august event is here just 
as the traveler of to-day beholds it, with even 
the stone bench whereon Turkish sentinels sit 
is reproduced, as is the casein the Grotto of 
Nazareth, though of sentinel there is here no 
need, andthe altars we now kneel before are 
not in the hands of the infidel. 

Turning to one side we come to a cavern hol- 
lowed in the rock, which is reached by descend- 
ingastep. This is the Place of the Manger, 
where the Infant Jesus was laid, wrapped in 


33 


The place of Manger. 


swaddling clothes, by 
His Holy Mother. It 
is but a little niche, 
hewn in rock, for the 
purpose of feeding the 
cattle, for here a & 
wooden manger was 
built. “And she 
brought forth her first 
born son, and wrapped 
him in _ swaddling 
clothes, and laid him 
in a manger; because 
there was no room for 
them in the inn.”’ (Sz. 
Luke, t1., 7-) 

Here it was that the shepherds hastened to 
pay their homage to the Divine Child. We do 
so likewise by venerating here a beautiful figure 
of the Infant Jesus, which was blessed in the 
original place of the manger at Bethlehem. 
Here, too, it was that the wise men of the East, 
Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar, bowed low in 
adoration. The place where they knelt is marked 
by an altar, known asthe Altar of the Wise Men. 
Beyond these three shrines and their decora- 
tions there is nothing more in the Grotto, which 
is empty and bare. Thetwo stairways leading 
from the crypt to the Church above will re. 

55 


mind all those who have been in Bethlehem of 
the Latin and Greek stairways in the Church 
of the Nativity, which they here reproduce. 

On returning to the upper church by the stair- 
way, we arrive in the transept, which at both 
ends is rounded off into apses. Opposite, just 
over the Grotto of Nazareth, is 


56 


The Altar of the Nativity. 
57 


Che Altar of the Sacred Heart. 


“ Behold the Heart which has loved men so much.’ 
Words of our Lord. 


The devotion to the 
Sacred Heart is as old as 
the Church. After the 
death of the Saviour a sol- 
dier pierced this Sacred 
Heart with a lance and 
blood and water flowed 
from it, wherefore the 
Church adopted the cus- 
tom of mixing a few drops 
of water with the wine prepared at Mass for 
consecration. 

But the first manifestation of the Sacred 
Heart took place in the-Cenacle, when our I,ord 
invited Thomas, the incredulous disciple, to 
place his fingers into the wound of His side. 

An altar was erected to this mystery in the 
Church of the Cenacle on Mount Zion, which is 
now, unfortunately, in the hands of the Turks, 
We commemorate on this altar of our Chapel 
the mysterious manifestation of the love of the 
Sacred Heart toward human mankind, and we 
propose to offer special prayers and holy sacri- 
fices here for the numberless thousands of souls 


who have fallen from the faith of Christ and 
58 


a 
3 
= 
~ 
ry 
x 
ry 
fe, 
Ss 
Ss 
nS 
& 
S 
= 
8 
4 
2 
8 
& 
= 
Ry 


who, as at the time of our Lord, live in the 
darkness and shadow of death. 

Our Holy Father has ordered that all the 
parishes of the world be consecrated to the Sa- 
cred Heart. This devotion has always beena 
chief feature in the Seraphic Order. In the year 
1874 the entire Franciscan Order was solemnly 
consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The 
manifestations of the Sacred Heartof Jesus tothe 
children of St. Francis reach back to the very 
beginning of the Order. One day, as St. An- 
tony of Padua was at prayer in the solitude of 
Mount St. Paul, Mary Immaculate appeared to 
him and, showing a crowned heart on which 
was imprinted the image of Jesus Crucified, 
girt with the Cord of St. Francis, said: ‘‘ Look 
up, Antony, and behold the armsthat I have 
carried in my heart ever since my Divine Son 
suffered on the Cross for the salvation of the 
world. Whoever adores my Son under this 
representation shall be preserved from all mis- 
fortune, spiritual and bodily.” 

Another time the Sacred Heart appeared to 
the Blessed John of Alverna. Our Lord was 
seen by him walking before his little hermitage, 
and from his Sacred Heart the Blessed John 
saw rays of light darting that illuminated all 
the forest. He kissed the hands of Jesus lov- 


ingly and the Sacred Heart gave out an odor so 
60 


sweet and so penetrat- 
ing that for many 
years afterwards the 
wood and the place 
where: our Lord ; 
walked remained ~ 
richly perfumed. In 
testimony of this 
prodigy, the pilgrim 
of to-day can see the 
pathway of the Sacred 
Heart, for though all 
the mountain round about is covered witha 
rich verdure, the path is bare and naked, as 
though ihe flames leaping from the Divine 
Heart had burned all about it. 
' And last of all, the grand manifestation of 
the Sacred Heart to the Blessed Margaret Mary 
Alacoque is not without a special intervention 
of the Seraphic Order. All the world knows 
“that our Lord gave to His blessed servant, as a 
special protector, our Seraphic Father, St. 
Francis of Assisi, and history tells us that at the 
moment when the Blessed Margaret ‘‘ went to 
reveal to the world the pierced heart of Jesus 
Christ,” God sent a disciple of the Stigmatized 
of Alverna, who should direct her, admit her at 
once toa daily communion, and remove the 
obstacles which her brothers sought to place in 
the way of her entering the religious life. 
61 


St. Antony of Padua deserves no less than St. 
Francis of Assis to be called ‘‘the favorite of 
the Sacred Heart.’’ Three centuries after his 
death the Ven. Jane Mary of the Cross describes 
a vision she had on the feast of St. Antony, in 
which our Lord opened the wound in His 
Heart, and this Heart, all radiant with light, 
attracted and seemed in some sort to absorb 
the soul of St. Antony as the light of the sun 
absorbs all other light. ‘In the Heart of Jesus 
the soul of the Saint appeared to me like a 
precious gem of radiating brilliaucy, which 
filled all the cavity. * * * Then Jesus took 
this lustrous gem in His Heart and presented 
it to His Heavenly Father, who caused it to be 
admired by the angels and saints.” 

In the transept directly opposite the altar of 
the Sacred Heart is 


Che Altar of the Holy Ghost. 


“The holy men o7 God spoke inspired by the Holy 
Ghost.” 2 Peter, 1, 21. 


The day on which 
the Holy Ghost de- 
scended upon the 
Apostles has ever 
been looked on as the 
birthday of the 
Church. This mem- 
orable event took 
place in the Cenacle 
on Mount Sion, and 
is commemorated by 
the feast of Pentecost. 

The Holy Ghost inspired the Apostles with 
that spirit of faith and fortitude that made 
them to think nothing of persecution and tor- 
mentsand even of death. Thesame Holy Ghost 
instructed them with the gift of languages, so 
that they were able to talk to men of all nations. 

Our College being a missionary institution, it 
must draw from the fountain of that Spirit 
which filled the world. Our missionaries, like 
so many Apostles, must go out and carry the 
fire of the love of God into the bosoms of the 
infidels ; they must speak to them in foreign 
languages ; they must work for the reunion of 

63 


The Church as seen from the Allar of the Holy Ghost. 


64 


our dissenting and separated brethren to the one 
fold in Christ. 

This reunion has been the great object of our 
Holy Father, Leo XIII., and here at this altar 
the future missionaries will kneel to pray that 
the Spirit of God may again unite all Christians 
in the same faith. 

From the altar of the Holy Ghost we enter to 
the right into the 


Ecce Fanem angelorum, 


66 


The Chapel of the Cenacle. 


“ Thou hast prepared a table before me against them 
that afflict me.” Ps. xxIt.: 5. 


It is only meet that a chapel especially dedi- 
cated to the institution the great mystery 
of love find its place in our own national 
Shrine of the Holy Land, for it will remind the 
Christian pilgrim of that ancient Cenacle in Pal- 
estine, where the Saviour of the world, on the 
eve of His passion, gave Himself wholly to His 
disciples, saying, ‘‘ Take ye and eat; this is my 
body.’ Matt. xxvi.: 26. 

The Seraph of Assisi had always the greatest 
love and devotion to this adorable Sacrament, 
for he saw in it the infinite legacy of the dying 
Son of God, He whose delight it is to be with 
the children of men. He made a point of receiving 
his Lord often in Holy Communion, that he might 
partake more fully of His grace and become more 
united with Him, that he might dwell in Christ 
and Christ in him. (/ohu vi.: 56.) Everything 
connected with the Blessed Eucharist was an 
object of solicitude to St. Francis. He revered 
more than an angel from heaven the lowliest 
priest on earth, whose office it is to distribute 
the Bread of Life to men. 

Such was St. Francis’ devotion to Jesus in — 
this Sacrament, that for it he even forgot his 

67 


St. Faschal, U.L.M. Patron of the Eucharistic League, 
68 


beloved poverty, and gave or- 
ders that his brethren should 
procure precious ciboria for the 
churches where they found that 
the Sacred Host was not repos- 
ing in a vessel worthy of Him. 
His great zeal for the Divine 
Prisoner of the Tabernacle knew 
no bounds; he even ‘‘in all rey- 
erence and kissing their feet’’ 
prepared a letter to be sent to 
all the clergy of the Catholic 
Church, exhorting them to the 
greatest diligence and care in all 
that pertained to the vessels 
and linens of the Altar of the 
Blessed Sacrament. In this 
restoration of the eucharistic 
devotion, the Friars have ever 
taken a part worthy of their 
Seraphic Father, asmay beseen 
from the numerous devotions 
introduced by them into the 
ritual of the Church. His Holi- 


Memorial Lamp. 


ness, Leo XIII., has publicly recognized this 
fact by assigning a humble Franciscan lay 
brother, St. Paschal Baylon, as the patron 
of all eucharistic congresses and works of every 
kindin honor of the Blessed Sacrament through- 


69 


out the whole world. St. Paschal died in Spain 
on Whitsunday, May 17, 1592. Even after 
death he retained his extraordinary devotion to 
the Holy Eucharist, for when lying lifeless on 
his bier he twice opened his eyes during the 
elevation of the funeral Mass. A statue of this 
glorious servant of God will be placed in the 
Chapel of the Cenacle. Adjoining it is the 
Chapel of Penance, destined for Confessions. 


’ 


Che Chapel of Penance. 


OMPASSION is the characteristic of a tender 
and loving heart, and, therefore, we find 
near the altar of every Catholic church the con- 
fessional which is the tribunal, not of punish- 
ment, but of forgiveness. 

If in the Holy Eucharist Jesus has erected a 
throne of His undying love towards us, the 
Sacrament of Penance is the throne of His lov- 
ing mercy, where He extends His pardon to the 
weeping Peter and to the penitent Magdalene. 
Penance is the great sacrament of the compas- 
sion of Jesus, of self-knowledge, of perfect — 
contrition, of reparation and perseverance. We 
were ‘‘sold gratis’’—that is, betrayed and lost 
by sin, and we are redeemed ‘‘ without money ’”’ 
—that is, as we had not wherewith to pay, He 
let us go and forgave usthe debt—yet indeed, 
not until He had paid it Himself. 

Cardinal Newman, writing of the love of our 
Lord in this Sacrament, observes’ thus 
beautifully : 

“« The presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist 
is real and substantial, proper and personal, in 
all the fulness of His Godhead and manhood. 
His presence in the Sacrament of Penance is by 
representation and grace. In this then there is 
no comparison possible. In the Holy Eucharist 

7X 


Christ the Consoler, 


N 
bh 


Jesus manifests Himself in His royalty, power 
and glory. In the Sacrament of Penance, in 
His tenderness asa Physician and His compas- 
sion as the Good Shepherd. In the former He 
attracts and transforms us chiefly by His divine 
attributes ; in the latter, by His human experi- 
ence, sympathy and pity. 

“Tn the Holy Eucharist, Jesus draws us up- 
wards to Himself ; in the Sacrament of Penance, 
He stoops down to listen to us and to open to us 
His Sacred Heart in the midst of our sins and 
in the hour of our greatest miseries. The Holy 
Eucharist is Jesus reigning amongst the just; 
the Sacrament of Penance is Jesus seeking 
among sinners for those that are lost; the former 
is the Sacrament of Saints, the latter, of the 
sinful ; and therefore to such as we are it comes 
down with a singular nearness, an intimate 
contact with our needs and an articulate and 
human voice of help and solace. 

‘« Therefore the Sacrament of Penance is loved 
by Catholics and hated by the world. Like the 
pillar which of old guided the people of God, 
to us it is all light ; to the world it is all dark- 
ness, There are two things of which the world 
would fain rid itself—of the Day of Judgment 
and the Sacrament of Penance; of the former 
because it is searcuing and inevitable; of the 
latter, because it is the anticipation and witness 

73 


of judgment tocome. For this cause there is 
no evil that the world will not say of the Con- 
fessional. It would dethrone the Eternal Judge, 
if it could, therefore it spurns at the judge who 
sits in the tribunal of penance, because he is 
within reach of its head. And not only the 
world without the Church, but the world within 
its unity, the impure, the false, the proud, the 
lukewarm, the worldly Catholic, and in a word, 
all who are impenitent, both fear and shrink 
from the shadow of the Great White Throne 
which falls on them from the Sacrament of 
Penance.”’ 

Retracing our steps to the altar of the Holy 
Ghost, we enter the 


QZ) 
Cae 


Chapel of Portiuncula 


DEDICATED TO 
Our Lady of Angels. 

It is named in honor of the little church St. 
Francis loved so well, which was the scene of 
many of the wonderful happenings of his holy 
life,and where the indulgence of the Portiuncula 
was established. It is related of St. Francis that, 
being sore tempted, he stripped from him his 
garments and entered a thicket that grew near- 


St. Francis Plucking Roses. 
75 


by the church, wherein were a multitude of 
briars. And into these he cast himself anon, so 
that they tore his flesh most grievously, and the 
blood covered his body ; yet he said, ‘‘ Better is 
it for me that I suffer with my Lord than that I 
should give ear unto the false words of my 
enemy.’’ And when he had spoken and was sad 
beset with many wounds, behold, there came in- 
to that place a great light as it were the sun at 
mid-day, and upon the bushes that bore the 
thorns, he saw roses blossoming. All about 
him were bright forms, and he knew them for 
angels and rejoiced, giving thanks. Then said 
they, ‘‘Francis, hasten thou to go into the 
church, where await thee our Lord Jesus and 
His Blessed Mother.’”’ And he was clothed ina 
garment of purest white, and of the roses he 
gathered twelve of each color that blossomed ; 
and itseemed to him he was treading on silk 
draperies when he walked to the church. 

. When he had entered the church it was so as 
the angels had said ; for when he placed his 
roses on the altar he was aware of our Lord and 
His Blessed Mother, and a great company of 
angels; whereat he was astonished and fell 
upon his face. Then said our Lord: ‘‘ Francis, 
why hast thou not made unto my mother those 
presents that would become thee to give?’’ By 
this Francis knew that our Lord meant souls, 

76 


to be saved through an indulgence to be gained 
in this church, so he spoke: ‘‘ Most Holy Father 
and Lord of Heaven and earth, vouchsafe in Thy 
great mercy to fix the day on which I may offer 
up to Thy Mother these gifts, and may she, that 
is the advocate of the human race, intercede for 
me, ” - 


Granting of the Portiuncula Indulgence, 
77 


Then it was that our Lord declared that 
whoso should visit the chapel with a contrite 
heart, between the First Vespers on August I, 
and the Vespers on the day following, having 
confessed the sins he could call to mind, should 
obtain remission of all his sins committed 
from the hourof his baptism -until his enter- 
ing into the Church. 

Now after much difficulty, St. Francis ob- 
tained the consent of the Holy Father to the 
publishing of this Indulgence. And many 
souls were saved thereby. 


The Indulgence of the Portiuncula can now 
be gained from 2 o’clock in the afternoon on 
the first of August until sunset on the second 
of August by a visit to any Franciscan church, 
the usual condition having been complied with. 
In places where there is no Franciscan church, 
Tertiaries of St. Francis may gain the same 
Indulgence by visiting the parish church. A 
prayer must be said for the intention of our 
Holy Father the Pope. The Indulgence can 
be obtained as often as the church is visited, 
but only one is applicable to oneself. The In- 
dulgence is, however, applicable to the souls in 
Purgatory. Confession and Holy Communion 
may be made in any church 

78 


Che Chapel of St. 
Fintony. 

“ Beloved of God and men 
whose memory 1s in bene- 
diction.’ Eccli, xlv., 1. 
: Immediately oppo- 
St. Antony Preaching. sie he Chapel Bpe@ns 

Lady of Angels, is the 
Chapel dedicated to St. Antony. 

He is the eldest son, as it were, of St. 
Francis, who inherited the spirit of his Seraphic 
Father in its entire fullness. The beloved child 
of Providence, St. Antony is one of the most 
wonderful figures in the Church’s history. After 

79 


St. Antony. 
80 


a hidden life of several years, he suddenly burst 
into prominence by his inspired eloquence, his 
wonderful knowledge of Scripture, his truly 
Seraphic spirit, his amiability and the prodigious 
power he possessed of working miracles. Na- 
ture had no bounds for the works which he 
wrought for the glory of God. The great wave 
of devotion which has swept over the Church 
in more recent years, is ample testimony to his 
heaven-given powers. 

There was a touch of prophecy in the words 
which our Holy Father spoke to an ecclesiastic 
of Padua : ‘‘My son, itis not enough to love 
St. Antony, but you must make him loved, for 
St. Antony is the Saint, not of Padua only, 
but of the whole world.” 

About his name many devotions have sprung 
up like sweet flowers from a fruitful soil, whose 
odor pervades all nations. Among these is the 
Pious Union of St. Antony, which has for its 
object the thanking of God for the miraculous 
power granted to St. Antony, the imploring of 
his powerful intercession, the propagation of 
his devotion and the assistance of the poor. 
The obligations of the Union are to say daily, 
three times, ‘‘ Glory be to the Father, etc. ;’’ to 
recite daily the Miraculous Responsory to St. 
Antony, or, if this be not known, once the 
Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory; to give an 

81 


The Chapel 07 St. Antony. 


alms to the poor when- 
ever a favor has been 
obtained through St. 
Antony, and to receive 
the Sacraments on the 
Feast of St. Antony, 
June 13, or within the 
Otave. There are many 
spiritual advantages 
connected with mem- 
bership in the Union 
which, by a decree of 
August 31, 1897, had 
its National Centre for 
the United States es- 
tablished at the Com- 
missariat of the Holy 
Land, Mount St. Sep- 
ulchre, Washington, 
DAC 

The growth of this 
widespread devotion 
to St. Antony has also 
taken the form of a 
new _ charity —St. 
Antony’s Bread. Those 
who desire to partici- 
pate in this charity 
write their requests on 

82 


a piece of paper, adding a promise that if by 
the expiration of a given time St. Antony 
should secure its fulfilment, a certain sum of 
money will be given, to be used in buying bread 
for the poor. Among these may be numbered 
the poor students, who, like St. Antony, aspire 
to the priesthood. Requests so written may be 
sent to St. Antony's department (Mt. St. 
Sepulchre, Washington, D. C.). They will there 
be deposited at the Statue of St. Antony, to 
whom special prayers are said weekly for the 
benefactors of the students and their intentions. 
Toa pious woman who sought his aid in an im- 
portant matter, St. Antony manifested himself 
and thus instructed her: ‘‘ Visit my picture in 
the Church of St. Francis for nine consecutive 
Tuesdays and your request shall be granted.’’ 
She did so, and the desired favor was obtained. 
From this circumstance has grown another de- 
votion to the Saint. But the faith of the people 
has extended the nine Tuesdays to thirteen, in 
memory of his death on the thirteenth day of 
June. The Church has sanctioned this pious 
practice and enriched it with indulgences. 
The Miraculous Responsory of St. Antony is 
a most efficient supplication. This hymn has 
been chanted for years at the tomb of the Saint 
in Padua, and is often recited by the Fathers 
at the request of pilgrims for a particular 
83 


intention. An indulgence of 199 
days for each recital of the Re- 
sponsory has been granted by the 
Church, witha plenary indulgence 
once amonth. Itis well to recite 
it in every need, especially if any- 
’ thing be lost or stolen. In honor of 
the thirteen ‘miracles contained in 
the Responsory there is the Chap- 
let of St. Antony, consisting of 
thirteen Our Fathers, Hail Marys 
and Glorias, and the Responsory. 
St Antony’s Militia is a branch 
} of the Pious Union for young 
} menand boys. Its members are 
called on to become apwstles of 
Christ among their fellows, to 
fight the demon of impurity, to 
foster a tender devotion to the 
Blessed Virgin, and to form a 
league of prayer among them- 
selves. The same indulgences gained by 
members of the Pious Union apply to the - 
Militia. 

It has long been a practice to consecrate 
children to the Saint and Christian mothers are 
urged to placed their dear little ones under his 
protection. These children wear the Cord of 
St. Antony and their mothers recite the prayers 
84 


of the Pious Union for 
them, giving alms to the 
poor in their behalf. 
Many in devotion to 
St. Antony wear a scapu- 
lar of gray wool which bears the image of the 
Saint with the Infant Jesus in his arms, and 
surrounded by the blessing of St. Antony. The 
reverse bears a picture of the reliquary contain- 
ing the Sacred Tongue, with the words ad- 
dressed to it by St. Bonaventure when the 
_ relics of the Wonder-worker were translated. 
The solicitude of St. Antony even reaches 
down to the depths of Purgatory. He fre- 
85 


quently offered the Holy Sacrifice of Mass for 
the dead. Hence it has become customary 
when any one desires his special intercession 
to have a holy Mass said in his honor for the 
benefit of his deceased clients in order to 
prompt his tender soul to mercy in our behalf. 

Those who desire more detailed information 
regarding the devotions to St. Antony may ob- 
tain it by writing to St. Antony’s Department, 
Mount St. Sepulchre, Washington, D. C. 

Leaving the Chapel of St. Antony we pass to 
the remaining chapel, 


846 


Che Chapel of St. Francis. 
‘‘And He gave him commandments and a law of life 
and instruction.’ LEccli. xtv. 6- 
From the streets of lone Assisi 
Rang a voice of piercing might, 
Through the olive groves and myrtles 
In the sunshine and the light ; 
Through the world that lay in darkness 
Rang the sweet and thrilling cry 
When St. Francis called the nations 
To the Wisdom from on high. 

In the beautiful valley of Umbria stands 
Assisi, which has become famous in the world 
through the man who, from his loviug spirit, 
has been called Sweet Saint Francis. Being 
the son of a rich merchant, he was eminent for 
his wealth, but more so by his constant and 
unflinching virtue. It was this, indeed, that 
won for him the title of the ‘‘ flower of the 
young men of Assisi.’’ 

A sudden flash of grace, which came to him 
through a sickness in which he lay near to 
death, turned his thoughts from the smiling 
beauties of the world to the deeper facts of 
eternity. Overcome by a hitherto unknown 
longing for a better world, the image of the 
Saviour became more real to his eyes, and he 
loved Him with an ever-deepening and more 


intense adoration. 
87 c 


St. Francts, true Follower of Christ. 


And so it was on the day when he heard the 
words of Christ: ‘‘Go carry neither scrip nor 
purse nor shoes,’’ and ‘‘If thou wilt be perfect, 
go sell what thou hast and give to the poor, and 
thou wilt have treasure in heaven, and come 
follow me.’’ Stripping himself of his rich 
apparel, he garbed himself in the clothes of a 
poor man and became a beggar in the midst of 
luxury. Neither scorn nor ridicule, imprison- 
ment or blows had power to turn him from the 
path he had chosen or make him forsake the 
spouse of his breast, holy poverty. Disowned 
and disinherited by his father, he bore all for 
the sake of his Master, in whose steps he 
endeavored to follow. 

Disciples were not slow in flocking to his 
side, and in 1209, with the approbation of the 
Holy See, he founded the Order of Friars 
Minor. Three years later the Second Order 
had its beginning, when a pious virgin of Assisi, 
whose name was Clara, bade farewell to the 
world and donned the coarse garb of penitence. 

There were matty who would also have 
wished to join this fast-growing army of saints, 
but worldly duties and responsibilities would 
not allow them. To this end the Third Order 
sprang up. Like wildfire almost it spread 
throughout Christendom. Noblemen and kings 


added to their honors and regal robes the robe 
89 ry 


St. Francis Calling the Knight Tancred to the Order. 
go 


of the Poor Man of Assisi. How beautiful was 
that reply of a Cardinal to one who was aston- 
ished that a prince of the Church should.add 
the livery of St. Francis to his purple: 

“The habit of St. Francis is itself a purple 
which adds to the dignity of kings and Car- 
dinals. Indeed, it is a purple dyed in the blood 
of Christ and in the blood coming from the 
sacred stigmata of His holy servant. I have 
added purple to purple—the purple of the 
Heavenly King to that of the Cardinalate. It 
is a double honor which I have not merited.’’ 

It was after his return from Palestine that the 
crowning glory of his lite was conferred on St. 
Francis. At midnight on Mt. Alverna he 
chanted Matins with the brethren as usual. 
Then he went out among the trees where there 
was a large crucifix. Kneeling before it he be- 
gan to meditate deeply onthe passion of our 
Lord, for it was the eve of the Feast of the 
Exaltation of the Cross. He prayed his Saviour 
if it were possible that he might participate in 
some degree in His sufferings, when the heavens 
were opened before him and from on high there 
appeared a Seraph more beautiful than day, 
glowing with splendor. Two of its wings covered 
the head and two the body, while two more sup- 
ported it in the act of flying. The Seraph ap- 
peared crucified and the marks of the wounds 

gi 


The Vision of the Seraph, 
92 


were seen by St. Francis, The Seraph was our 
Saviour, and he talked with St. Francis. And 
as they spoke, the heart of St. Francis became 
transformed and the marks of the wounds ap- 
peared on his chaste flesh. In his hands appeared 
nails which seemed to have grown from his flesh, 
and his breast appeared as if pierced with a 
lance, and blood from the wound stained his 
habit. 

This stigmatization is the seal, as it were, of 
God’s acceptance of the work of his earthly 
life. The Church has established the truth of 
this great mystery and has formally instituted a 
feast to commemorate it. It is celebrated by the 
whole Church, on September 17, the date chosen 
for the dedication of Mount St. Sepulchre. 


93 


St. Francis Recetving the Rule from Our Lord. 
94 


Che Order of Friars Minor and its 
Mission in the @hurch. 


FTER the death of €t. Francis his children 
spread themselves throughout the whole 
world, adhering faithfully to bis spirit which 
had inspired them and continuing their heaven- 
sent mission with unremitting zeal. This new 
soldiery which God had given to the Church 
was destined to revive the spirit of Jesus Christ 
among the Christian nations; and for the ac- 
complishment of this divine mission our Lord 
Himself dictated to St. Francis the Seraphic 
Rule, which is the quintessence of the Holy 
Gospel and the mode of life of the Apostles. 
The Order of St. Francis has carried on at all 
times the work of preaching in Catholic lands, 
and the work of missions among the heathen. 
Volumes might be written on the labors, suf- 
ferings and triumphs of the Franciscan mis- 
sionaries ; no Order in the Church has surpassed 
them in zeal for the propagation of the gospel. 
St. Francis himself visited the Holy Land, pre- 
sented himself before the Sultan of Egypt 
(1220) and endeavored to convert him, and sent 
five Friars to Morocco, who were all martyred. 
Franciscans preached in Tartary about the 
middle of the thirteenth century, and in China 
and Armenia before the end ofit. By a bull of 
95 


6B Ul = 
icine ee 


2 
| 


The Tree of the Order. 
96 


Clement VI. (1340) the guardianship of the 
Holy Places at Jerusalem was committed to the 
Order, and they still retain it. Franciscans 
were established in Bosnia in 1340, in Bulgaria 
about 1366, and in Georgia (Caucasia), 1370. 
We find them taking a large share in the con- 
version of the natives of the Canary Islands in 
and after 1423; they entered Abyssinia in 1480, 
and about 1490 established a mission on the 
Congo which bore great fruit. The Order was 
instrumeital in the discovery of America. Fr. 
John Perez de Marchena, guardian of a con- 
vent near Seville, himself a learned cosmog- 
rapher, entered warmly into the designs of 
Columbus, and used his influence with Isabella 
the Catholic, whose confessor he had been, to 
persuade her to fit out the memorable expedi- 
tion of 1492. In the following year Fr. John 
himself went to America and opened the first 
Christian Church in the New World, at a small 
settlement in theisland of Hayti. Not to speak 
of the Franciscan missions in India, Brazil and 
Peru—it was the Friars Minor who were wel- 
comed to Mexico by Cortez in 1523, and who, 
under their holy leader, Martin de Valenza, 
planted Christianity firmly in that empire, 
whence they went forth to preach the gospel in 
New Mexico (1580), in Arizona, in Texas (1600), 
and, lastly, in California (1769). 
oF 


S 


SS 


St. Francts and St. Bernardine, devout clients «f the 


rgin. 


Blessed Vii 


98 


There is no savage nation which the Fran- 
ciscan missionaries have not sought to evangel- 
ize; no land so distant or shore so unknown 
that they have not watered it with the sweat of 
their brows and often with their very life’s 
blood. And even in this, our day, their apos- 
tolic zeal has not abated, for their missions con- 
tinue in all parts of the globe. The disciples of 
St. Francis are found in Asia, under the burn- 
ing sun of Africa, in the vast regions of North 
and South America, and among the savage 
tribes of the South Sea Islands. 

The Order of St. Francis has never separated 
learning from the apostolate. Preaching was, 
itis true, the last principle of the Order which 
suggested itself to St. Francis, but he gave to 
their preaching a solid foundation in sacred 
knowledge. The Friar Minor should draw the 
inspiration of his eloquence from the pure 
sources of theology. It was the Order of Friars 
Minor that, having consoled and rejoiced the 
Church by the indefatigable zeal of its apostles, 
illumined it by the wisdom of its doctors. And 
it is not one of the least of the glories of the 
Order that its most illustrious men have re- 
garded their lives and their works as belonging 
to Mary Immaculate, their august patron. 
They made use of their learning and their bril- 
liancy to defend that which was called the 

g9 


‘‘Franciscan opinion ’’—that is, the Immacu- 
late Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 

But the Order of St. Francis does not esteem 
learning unless it is coupled with the practise 
of the highest Seraphic virtues. The present 
number of Saints and Blessed belonging to the 
three Orders of St. Francis is 260. In addition 
to these servants of God who haye been raised 
tothe honors of the altar, there are also some 
7,000 martyrs or confessors to whom the title of 
Blessed is given in the martyrology of the Ser- 
aphic Order, as well as a large number of others 
who enjoy a wide public cult. 

During the past two centuries the children of 
St. Francis have not ceased to add to the hosts 
of heaven, after they had enriched the earth 
by the sweet perfume of their virtue. Accord- 
ing toa public accounting, made at the General 
Chapter held in Rome in 1856, the number of 
religious Friars Minor who died in the odor of 
sanctity since 1768, less than a century, was 
more than four hundred. 

In addition to these there is a number of 
others still who have died in the fame of heroic 
sanctity. ‘The causes of beatification of no less 
than sixty-eight of these have already been in- 
troduced, and hence they are entitied to be 
called Venerable. Of these sixty-eight servants 
of God thirty-one lived during the present cen- 

100 


tury. Pre-eminent among them is Fr. Joseph 
Areso, O.F.M., who re-established the Ser- 
aphic Order in France, and who died in 1878. 
No less renowned for sanctity during the same 
period were Fathers Lawrence Izaquirre, John 
of Obieta, John Baptist of Beauvais, Alphonsus 
of Montbrison and Brother Stanislaus of Serate, 
all belonging to the French Franciscan Prov- 
ince. More recently, however, Father Arsen- 
jus of Servieres, O.F.M.. Provincial of the 
same Province, seems to have eclipsed all these 
in point of heroic holiness. He died in the 
fame of sanctity in Paris on Easter Sunday, 1898. 

In the month preceding the death of Fr. Ar- 
senius there died in Corsica another humble 
Franciscan, Fr. Peter Lopez, O.F.M. He ex- 
pired at the convent of Marcasso on March 25, 
1898. It was necessary on account of the 
crowds to leave Fr. Peter’s body exposed for 
several days, and it was noticed that it remained 
supple and flexible as in life, the face was radi- 
ant as though reflecting the happiness of para- 
dise—a fact which astonished aud overawed all 
that approached it. Finally, in the presence of 
a large concourse, the remains were laid in a 
special vault under the Conventual Church at 
Marcasso, beside those of the Ven. Bernardine 
of Calenzana, O.F.M., who will shortly be - 
raised to the honors of the altar. 

Ior 


Saints of the Seraphic Order. 
102 


Another Italian Franciscan, Fr. Ludovico da 
Casoria, O.F.M., who died in 1885, attained . 
such an eminent degree of holiness that the con- 
sideration of his virtues has already been taken 
up by the Holy See. 

Another biography of the same type is Lady 
Lovat’s ‘Life of Sr. Mary Clare Vaughan,” 
who died in the odor of sanctity while a novice 
in the Franciscan Order. The biography of 
Sister Clare, who was a sister of the present 
Cardinal Vaughan, is truly Franciscan ; it reads 
like another chapter in the “‘ Little Flowers of 
St. Francis.” 

Measures are being taken to introduce the 
cause of beatification of Fr. Bula, O.F.M, a 
missionary in Chili, who died in 1896, in the 
odor of sanctity. 

The introduction of the cause of Fr. Bonaven- 
tura Sortillo, O.F.M., Bishop of Zacatecas, in 
Mexico, who died in July, 1899,is being spoken of, 

We fain would add to these few too brief ex- 
amples of sanctity gathered at random from the 
Seraphic garden a long listof other Franciscans 
of the three Orders who have attained public 
eminence for sanctity in our own time, but lack 
of spaceforbids. Enough has, however, been 
said todemonstrate that heroic sanctity is not 
impossible in this hurrying, pressing latter day 
ofours. Nor has it been in the peaceful at- 

103 


104 


The Martyrs of Damascus. 


mosphere of the cloister alone that the children 
of St. Francis have triumphed over the world. 
In infidel countries they have been repeating the 
victories of their glorious predecessors, the Ser- 
aphic martyrs of Morocco, Japan and Gorcum. 
The cause of beatification of the Ven. Emmanuel 
Ruiz, O.F.M., and his seven companions, all 
Franciscans, martyred at Damascus in Syria in 
1860, has already been introduced. Even more 
recently, Bro. Liberatus, O.F.M., sealed his 
faith with his blood in the Grotto of the Nativ- 
ity at Bethlehem in 1893; Father Salvator, 
O.F.M., was cruelly put to death for his faith 
by the Mussulmans in Armenia in November, 
1895, and Father Victorin, O.F.M., was mar- 
tyred in China last December in a manner cal- 
culated to recall the worst torments inflicted on 
the Christians during the fiercest of the early 
persecutions. 

Surely an Order which can produce in this 
godless age such heroes as these is in no danger 
of becoming decadent. Rather, it is destined, 
as Pope Leo has repeatedly insisted, to renew 
the lights of faith and love in these dark and 
distracted days. Thank God! the Seraphic 
Order which has in the past given to the world 
so many children who are now crowned with 
glory still continues to produce saints, and will 
do so until the end. 

105 


St. Francis Founds the Third Order, 


106 


The Third Order of St. Francis. 


T was after he had founded his first two 
Orders that St. Francis, in 1221 established 
the Third Order. There were many in those 
days who were aroused by the spirit of regenera- 
tion which the preaching of the Saint and his 
followers had aroused. Filled with sorrow and 
remorse for their sins and moved by a deep de- 
sire to spend the remainder of their lives in 
penitential exercises and works of charity they 
would fain have withdrawn from the world. 
But for many the cloister was not possible. 
Ties of many kinds bound them to a life in 
the world—ties which they could not in con- 
science loose, for some were married and others 
had aged or infirm parents or relatives de- 
pendent upon them. 

Seeing their great devotion and unwilling 
that they should be deprived of the spiritual 
advantages accruing to those who embraced 
the religious life, St. Francis found for these a 
middle course, a path to salvation that should 
lie midway between the world and the cloister, 
partaking of the nature of each. In fact, those 
who take upon themselves the obligations and 
habit of the Third Order, men and women are 
in the true sense of the word religious who pass 


unnoticed in the garments of everyday life and 
107 


whose cloisters are bounded only by the limits 
of the world itself. 

The chief obligation imposed by the Rule on - 
members of the Third Order is to live a life 
which shall be in all ways truly Christian. Itis 
not severe, its requirements do not bind under 
pain of sin, and is therefore open to all. Those 
inthe Order are expected to be more sedate, 
spend more timein prayer, hear Mass more 
frequently, fast more strictly, and to shun the 
pleasures of this world more persistently. Here 
are the principal obligations : 

Every Day.—Assist at Holy Mass, if possible, 
recite twelve Paters and Aves, say grace before 
and after meals and examine your conscience. 

very Month.—Receive the Sacraments and 2s- 
sistat the meetings. A/ways be temperate in 
eating and drinking, avoid display in dress and 
ornaments, frivolous stage plays, dances and 
all revelry, bad books and newspapers, unnec- 
essiry oaths, immodest words and vulgar jokes. 
Make your will in due time, pray for the dead, 
and wear the cord and scapular. Fast on 
October 3d, and December 7th. 

It will thus be seen that it is an approved 
Order, infinitely more than a common confra- 
ternity, and has been recommended and eulo- 
gized by more than thirty Popes, and two 


Ecumenical Councils. 
108 


Devotions Founded by the 
Franciscans, 


Many of the greatest and most popular devo- 
tions in the Church owe their origin to the Sons 
of St. Francis. The origin of the beautiful 
devotion of the crib is thus described: 

“Tate in the Au- 
tumn of the year 
1223, being at 
Rome, St. Francis 
sought and _ ob- 
tained from the 
Pontiff Honorius 
III. permission to 


Origin of the Cri. 
Iog 


honor the Feast of the Nativity in a novel way. 
He then journeyed to Greccio, a little spot in the 
Appenines,there to celebrate his ideal Christmas. 
On the mountain side near Greccio a large stable 
was roughly built ; carved wooden images of the 
Divine Child, the Virgin Mother, and St. 
Joseph were placed in it; the floor was covered 
with straw, and an altar was erected. Toward 
midnight soiae shepherds arrived, leading an 
ox and an ass, which they tied up under this 
rude shelter. The place was thronged with the 
friars from the neighboring convent, and the 
country people from the hamlets around, who 
had brought torches, which illuminated the 
mountain side; they brought with them also 
musical instruments, and the wild, sweet Christ- 
mas carols resounded through the dark forests, 
and awakened the echoes of the rocks.”’ 

The Forty Hours’ Devotion, concerning 
which Cardinal Wiseman says, ‘‘In no other 
time or place is the sublimity of our religion so 
touchingly felt,’’ is another legacy from the 
Franciscans. It was instituted in 1537, by 
the Ven. Joseph A. Ferno, a friar of Milan, and 
the rules for its observance were drawn up some 
years later by St. Charles Borromeo, himself a 
Franciscan of the Third Order. 

So again the Franciscans were the first to 


introduce into their churches throughout 
IIo 


Europe the devotion known as 
the Way of the Cross, or the 
fourteen stations. Clement III. ‘ 
extended this devotion to the y = 
universal Church ; reserving to LB. 
the Order of St. Francis, or oi Pa Y 
whomsoever the General of it Lay iy 
should delegate, the right to —- “% 
bless and erect the stations. 

For the Angelus, which has 
been aptly called the very poetry 
of prayer, we are indebted to 
St. Bonaventure, who, in 1262, 
being then General of the Fran- 
ciscans, commanded the friars 
at the general chapter of his 
order at Pisa to recite, at the 
sound of the evening bell, three 
Aves in honor of the mystery of 
theIncarnation. Thesamewas if 
ordered for morning and noon, 
This was the origin of the An- 
gelus. 

But the crowning grace of de- 
votions which we owe to the 
Order of St. Francis is the di- 
vinely given indulgence of the 
Portiuncula already mentioned, 


concerning which the great 
1Ir 


ee 


The Angelus. 


Jesuit theologian, Bourdaloue, says: ‘'I assert 
that of all indulgences that of the Portiuncula is 
the most authentic and valid in the Church, be- 
cause it is an indulgence directly granted hy 
Jesus Christ Himself. All other indulgences 
whatever have been derived from Sovereign 
Pontiffs, this one alone was given directly by 
God Himself to the lovely and lowly St. 
Francis.” 

Nor should it be forgotten in this connection 
that the sublime and pathetic ‘‘ Dies Ire,’’ 
which forms part of the Requiem for the dead, 
was composed by a Franciscan, Father Thomas 
de Celano, and that the ‘‘ Stabat Mater,’’ which 
is the most beautiful of all hymns in honor of 
our Lady, is also the production of a Francis- 
can, the Italian poet Jacapone da Todi. 


Ir2 


——$_—" re EE = 


a Pam] 


Tniluence of the Order of St. Francis 
on the Ghurch and on Society. 


“ Tsalute thee, O wisdom, who art the.queen. May Gud 

preserve thee with thy sister, pure and holy simplicity..— 
Words of St. Francts. 

Indeed, few Catholics know how much they 
owe to St. Francis and the Franciscans. 

How many areignorant of the fact that Roger 
Bacon, ‘‘the giant of science’’—he who fore- 
told the extensive use of steam and electricity, 
lived and died asa humble priest of the Friars 
Minor? How few outside the small circle of 
eminent scientists are aware that it was a son of 
St. Francis, Bishop Mullock, O.F.M., of New 

Il3 


‘ayvynavuumy cADpy JO Salmaus, 24] Aan0 SYFUNIATL SNJOIS sung 


114 


Foundland, who first conceived the idea of lay- 
ing the ocean cable, and showed it to be practi- 
cable? In these boastful days of military power 
and skill, howfew know that it wasa peaceful 
friar, Berthold Schwarz, whoin hishumblecell 
invented gunpowder? When we hear of the 
great Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, 
and the Sorbonne of Paris, we should not for- 
get, as Gladstone remarked, that their golden 
age was when the lowly Friars sat in the 
‘*cathedra’’—when Duns Scotus, Alexander of 
Hales, Adam de Marisco, Peckham and Ockham 
taught the world. 

Truly can it be said that the spirit of St. 
Francis has ruled the world. His spirit has 
pervaded the whole Church in all his spiritual 
children. They have founded all of the most 
notable of the Church’s Orders, to say nothing 
of the three great branches of the Franciscan 
Order, the Friars Minor, the Minor Conventu- 
als and the Minor Capuchins, and all the in- 
numerable Sisterhoods of the Third Order of St. 
Francis. .Among the many founders of other 
religious Orders who have themselves been 
members of the Third Order of St. Francis may 
be mentioned: 

St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits, and his 
two great followers, St. Francis Xavier, Apostle 
of the Indies, and St. Francis Borgia. 

115 


St. Cajetan, founder of the Theatines. 

St. Charles Borromeo, founder of the Oblates. 

St. Vincent de Paul, founder of the Lazarists 
and of the Sisters of Charity. 

St. Philip Neri, founder of the Oratorians. 

St. Camillus of Lellis, founder of the Ser- 
vants of the Sick. 

St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de 
Chantal, founders of the Sisters of the Visita- 
tion. 

St. Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passion- 
ists. 

St. Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Re- 
demptorists. 

St. Angela, founder of the Ursulines. 

Blessed John Baptist de la Salle, founder of 
the Christian Brothers. 

Father Olier, founder of the Sulpitians. 

Dom Bosco, founder of the Salesian Fathers 
and Sisters. 

Do not all these and other Orders of the 
Church, founded by Tertiaries, draw inspiration 
and strength from St. Francis, and is he not 
also their spiritual father, being the spiritual 
father of their founders? Are not their glories, 
their colleges, academies, hospitals, orphan- 
ages, missions and other works, the glory of 
the humble St. Francis? 


Pius IX. loved to call himself a son of St. 
116 


St. Francis brings a New World to the Order, 


117 


- 


Francis. In 1867, when he was in the greatest 
anguish, he said one day, having given his last 
money toward some charitable work: ‘‘ Poor 
Pius IX. has nothing left, but he complains 
not; for he has not forgotten that he isa Ter- 
tiary of St. Francis.’’ 

Leo XIII. also belongs to the Franciscan fam- 
ily, and strained all his efforts to restore society 
to the following of Christ through the Third Or- 
der of St. Francis. A great majority of the 
College of Cardinals have always been members 
of the Third Order, and many of the Arch- 
bishops and Bishops of the United States like- 
wise wear the humble livery of the Poor Man of 
Assisi. 

To the Third Order also belonged the great 
poets Dante, Tasso and Petrarch; Christopher 
Columbus was a follower of St. Francis, as 
were Palestrina and Gounod, princes of 
musical art; Galvani, the discoverer of galvan- 
ism, Volta and Galileo, the scientists, and the 
painters and sculptors, Cimabue, Giotto, Mich- 
elangelo, Raphael, Murillo, and Leonardo da 
Vinci, Raymond Lullus, the Spanish philos- 
opher, Sir Thomas More, the great Chancellor 
of England, Mgr. De Segur, Vasco di Gama, the 
navigator, Lope de Vega and Calderon, the au- 
thors, Garcia Moreno, the martyr-president of 


118 


Ecuador, and Frederic Ozanam, the founder of 
the St. Vincent de Paul Society. 

These are only a few of the many, and yet 
what an illustrious array do they present—men 
of science, of art and literature, and greater 
than all, men of piety, compared with whom 
all the leaders of modern letters and science 
appear as pigmies. 

It would be difficult to enumerate the num- 
ber of crowned heads who have worn the habit 
of St. Francis from Queen Catherine of Aragon 
down to Dom Pedro, the late Emperor of Brazil. 
Pre-eminent among royal Tertiaries are St 
Louis, King of France, St Elizabeth, Queen of 
Hungary, St. Elizabeth, Queen of Portugal, and 
St. Ferdinand, King of Spain. 

Among other children of St. Francis whose 
canonization will take place before long, are 
Joan of Arc and the Curé of Ars, both members 
of the Third Order, 


The Discovery of America. 
120 


Che Order of St. Francis in America. 


The Franciscans were not only the first mis- 
sionaries in those portions of North America and 
other islands settled by the Spaniards, but alsoin 
the Northern regions along the Atlantic coast 
discovered by Cabot, under the auspices of Eng- 
land. Years before the pilgrims anchored 
within Cape Cod, the intrepid Franciscan, Le 
Caron, had penetrated the land of the Mohawk 
and evangelized the Hurons, The first ex- 
ploration of the Great Lakes was made by 
the Stanley of North America, the Fran- 
ciscan Father Hennepin, who named Niag- 
ara Falls in honor of St. Antony, a name 
once borne also by the majestic Hudson river. 
The glorious history of the Franciscan missions 
in California, founded by the Ven. Junipero 
Serra, O.F.M., is well known. The Franciscan 
John of Torres was with De Soto when he 
discovered the Mississippi. The founder of 
the Texas missions, Father Antony Margil, 
O.F.M., was the first person from the United 
States whose process of canonization was intro- 
duced. In Mexico also as in China, and else- 
where, the Franciscans were the first mission- 
aries. 

In Maryland the Franciscans appeared in the 


° seventeenth century, and their labors in Florida 
I2t 


and the South are too well known to require 
further comment. The old church at St. 
Augustin was erected by children of St. Francis, 
and the first Bishop nominated to a See in the 
United States, Father Garcia de Padilla,O.F.M., 
was a Franciscan. Father Perez, who ac- 
companied Columbus, and whoseimage appears 
in bronze at the doors of the capitol in Wash- 
ington, was celebrant of the first Mass offered 
up under western skies. 


122 


SS 


— 


— SS z —e 
=SK (ee 
SS—ws : Hi 4 aS 


| 
——— 


St. Francis and the 
Boly Land. 


As regards the Holy 
Land, the presence of the 
Friars Minor in Palestine 
dates back to 1220, in 
which year their glorious 
founder, Saint Francis of 
Assisi, himself visited the 
Holy Shrines, and pre- 
senting himself before 
the Sultan, endeavored to 
convert him. St.Francis 
left some of his disciples 
behind him in Palestine, 
who became the suc- 
cessors of the Crusaders, 
and there established a 
province which is still 
called the Custody of the 
Holy Land, In 1230 the 


123 


St. Francts before the Sultan 


124 


guardianship of the Holy Places was officially 
committed to the care of the Seraphic Order 
by the Holy See, and the Franciscans have 
ever since retained it. During the intervening 
six and a half centuries upwards of seventy-five 
hundred of the Friars have fallen a prey to 
Mohammedan persecution, to pestilence, and to 
shipwreck, but their ranks have always been 
filled by new volunteers coming from every 
country and province of the Order. 

Among the innumerable martyrs of the Holy 
Land we mention those of Damascus and the 
Blessed Nicholas of Sebenico, who suffered mar- 
tyrdom in Jerusalem and was recently beatified 
by Leo XIII. The persecutions of the Turks have 
ranged from massacres to petty annoyances. The 
fathers in Jerusalem were formerly forbidden to 
build or repair their churches without a written 
permit from the Cadi, which always involved a 
heavy expense. Work was therefore done sur- 
reptitiously or at night, the débris being stored 
in empty rooms or carried out by the friars in 
their sleeves. Whenever an opportunity offered 
itself, the Turks compelled the friars to pay 
them. Did drought prevail, or too much rain 
fall, or locusts destroy the harvest, pestilence 
break out or the Pasha’s child take sick—all 
these things were at once charged to the friars, 
who must pay whatever price the Turks de- 

125 


e 


manded. Presents had to be sent tothe Cadi or 
the Mufti, if these officers chose to take another 
wife. Yearly the Pasha of Damascus would visit 
Jerusalem and his visit filled all with fear, for 
they knew what it meant. He at once would 
send for the Superior, stating that he needed 
money, and asking for so many thousand dollars. 
In vain would the Superior protest that he had 
none. ‘‘I will lend it you,’’ the Pasha would 
say, handing over a 
purse and at once tak- 
ingit back. So the fri- 
ars not only had to pay 
the sum required, but 
interest on the loan as 
well. 

The Custody or Prov- 
ince of the Holy Land, 
which comprises all 
the convents and sta- 
tions of the Order in 
Palestine, Syria, Asia 
Minor, Egypt and the 
Isle of Cyyrus, at pres- 
ent comprises some 
450 religious of the 
Order of Friars Minor, 
who have jurisdiction 
over 63,000 sou's, 


126 


St. Francts in the Holy Land. 
127 


9 


speaking eleven different languages. The 
Friars maintain 55 sanctuaries, 9 convents, 42 
residences, 28 parishes, 18 mission churches, 34 
chapels, t Seraphic college, 6 study-houses, 5 
dispensaries. two orphan asylums, sheltering 
350 orphans, and I printing office. They also 
conduct I commercial college, Io trade schools 
and 52 elementary schools, which are attended 
by 4,000 pupils. Indeed, the Friars have es- 
tablished schools wherever it has been possible 
to do so among the benighted natives, so that 
to-dav hardly an Arab can be found living within 
their jurisdiction who is not fairly well educated. 

The Franciscans, moreover,maintain 415 houses, 

where poor families are lodged gratuitously, 

besides which they give support to 12,000 poor. 

In addition to these institutions, they have 9 
hospices for pilgrims, at which a cordial hospi- 
tality has always been extended to visitors, re- 

gardless of creed or nationality, “The Friars 
have exercised this charity ever since their es- 
tablishment in Palestine, and have thus been a 
guide and protection to countless pilgrims, who 
have flocked there for centuries. Even to-day 
there are many places such as Nazareth, Mt. 
Thabor and Tiberias, where the hospice of the 
Franciscans is the only refuge at which a tray- 
eler may findrest after along journey on horse 

back. The records of these hospices show hoy. 

128 


highly the visitors have appreciated the hospi- 
tality of the Friars, who do everything in their 
power to make visitors feel at home without 
asking any compensation. According to the 
latest available reports, 9,149 pilgrims received 
hospitality from the Friars in one year, cover- 
ing 24,354 days’ board and lodging. 


The Commissariat of the Holy Land. 


The Custody or Province of the Holy Land is 
represented abroad by thirty-seven Commis- 
sariats, the object of which is to promote inter- 
est in the Holy Places in Palestine, in the 
countries in which they are established ; to col- 
lect alms for the preservation and rescue of 
these shrines, and to furnish letters of introduc- 
tion to pilgrims journeying to the Iloly Land. 
Of these Commissariats, twenty-three are in 
Europe, ten in South America, and one each in 
Australia, Mexico, Canada, and the United 
States. The latter was located at No. 143 West 95th 
St., New York City, until September 1, 1899, 
when it was removed to Mount St. Sepulchre, 
Washington, D.C. Up to the establishment of 
this Commissariat, the needs of the Holy Land 
were but little known among the Catholics 
of this country. Few of our people, if any, 
understood the great mission of the Church, 
to preserve the Holy Shrines of our relig- 
ion, and to keep alive the faith in those 
places, which were hallowed by the life and 
death of the Redeemer of mankind. This 
knowledge was brought before them through 
the establishment, by the Commissariat, of 


Che Good Work of the Holy Land. 

““Tf I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my eee hand be 
Sorgotten.” Ps, cxx x1. 6. 

For seven centuries the sons of St. Francis 
have kept faithful guard at the Holy Places of 
Palestine. No work has been too great for them 
to undertake, no persecution too severe; pains 
and torments and even death have been suffered, 
and it is to their suffering and bravery that 
these shrines are to-day in the possession of the 
Catholic Church. To-day the pious pilgrim 
may kneel before them in veneration, assist at 
the Holy Sacrifice and receive the Sacraments ; 
and it is to their labors that he owes this pre- 


cious privilege. 
131 


Yet there is much still to be done. The 
Shrines must be cared for, pilgrims entertained 
and fed, and the great work of the Mission of 
the Holy Land prosecuted. All this requires the 
expenditure of vast sums of money, in order 
that the work may not be neglected and the 
Sanctuaries fall into the hands of the Schismatics 
and the Turks. Surely the land where our dear 
Lord lived and taught and where He gave up 
His life for our salvation ought to be so dear to 
us that we would willingly do anything in our 
power to supply its needs. Inthe days of old 
the Crusaders went forth gladly to the succor of 
the Holy Land, giving goods and gold, and, 
more than all, life itself on the field of battle. 
But now the day of the sword has gone by and 
the era of peaceful methods has come in its 
stead. Yet the work of this Mission is no less 
important than it was in the days of Godfrey de 
Bouillon and his brave followers, who flocked 
under the standard of the Cross. The need for 
Crusaders is as great now as ever; will not 
sotaething of olden fire that burned in their 
breasts be enkindled in the hearts of Catholics 
to-day and inspire them to bend their efforts 
toward the rescue of the land whence came our 
salvation? This work, one of the dearest to 
our Holy Mother the Church, has been especially 
commended, for upon it depends the continu- 

132 


ance of our Lord’s own mission, the preaching of 
the Gospel in the very place where He taught 
the eternal truths. It is one of the most precious 
inheritances of our Faith, the possession of so 
niany of the spots sanctified by the presence of 
Jesus Christ in the course of His earthly life- 
time. 

Through the Catholics of America, who put 
forth their strength and give their assistance to 
these objects which are so important and so 
deserving, our great Republicitself becomes ina 
sense a partaker in the new Crusade. It is not 
a great sacrifice that one is called to perform ; 
there is no armor to be buckled on; no weary 
marches through desert lands; no mighty foe 
to be met in the onset of the conflict. Instead, 
there is only a small contribution to be made—a 
mite that would easily be spent for some insig- 
nificant trifle or other, whereas applied in so 
worthy a cause it becomes a veritable treasure 
laid up in heaven—arich endowment of spiritual 
gracesand benefits. There is no one who should 
neglect the work begun by the Lord, for if their 
support is wanting those who are in the field 
cannot continue their labors. They stand ready 
and willing to do anything required of them— 
even martyrdom itself—and those who remain 
here at home should not hesitate to make some 
little sacrifice for so great a cause. 

133 


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Se ey 


|) Key ‘i (i 
il } \" 


The Wounds of our Lord. 


134 


This good work is approved of by the Holy See, 
and not yet sufficiently known in the United 
States. It carries on the work of rescuing and 
preserving the Holy Shrines, not, indeed, by 
force of arms, as of old, but by prayer and volun- 
tary offerings. This Crusade is an association, 
the members of which contribute an annual of- 
fering towards the rescue and preservation of the 
Holy Shrines. Each member receives at his 
enrolment a copy of the Crusader’s Almanac 
for the current year, a certificate of admission 
and the Crusader’s Medal, consisting of the 
fivefold cross, the emblem of the Holy Land 
and of the five holy wounds of our Lord. 

The Crusaders have a share in about 25,000 
Holy Masses offered annually, for the benefac- 
tors of the Holy Land, by the Franciscan 
Fathers at the Holy Shrines. By a brief of 
Pope Pius VI., dated July 13, 1778, they par- 
take of all good works, prayers, fastings, pen- 
ances, mortifications and pilgrimages, per- 
formed in the Holy Land by the Franciscan 
Fathers, the pilgrims and the faithful. They 
share in the innumerable indulgences attached 

to the Holy Shrines, all of which are applicable 
to the souls of the taithful departed. 


Kow Brother Giles Made a Pilgrimage 
to the Holy Land. 

Brother Giles went to visit the Holy Sepulchre 
of Christ, by leave of St. Francis, and came 
to the port of Brindisi, and there he tarried 
many days by reason of there being no ship 
ready. And Brother Giles, desiring to live by 
the labor of bis hands, begged for a pitcher, 
and filling it with water went crying through 
the city: ‘‘Who lacks water?” And by his 
labcr he earned bread and such things as be 
needful for the life of the body, both for him- 
self and for his companion ; and then he went 
over sea and visited the Holy Sepulchre of 
Christ and the other holy places, wi:h great 
devotion. And coming back again he made 
baskets of rushes and sold them, not for money, 
but for bread for himself and his companion, 
and for the self-same wage he carried the dead 
forthe burying, and when this failed him he 
returned to the table of Jesus Christ, begging 
alms from door to door. And so with much 
toil and poverty he returned to St. Mary of the 
Angels. 

From the ‘‘ Little Flowers of St. Francis.” 


136 


The College of the Holy Land. 


As the number of pilgrims and visitors to the 
Holy Land fromthe United States is increas- 
ing every year, the advantage of having Anieri- 
can Fathers there who could speak English is 
obvious. Apart from this the demand for more 
missionaries in the Holy Land is very urgent. 
For example, petitions have been coming in to 
the Fathers from various sections of Armenia 
ever since the late massacre, emanating mainly 
from non-Catholics, asking that Franciscan 
missionaries he sent to minister among them. 
Unfortunately, however, the Friars are unable 
to respond to these calls as fully as they would 
wish to do, owing to the scarcity of mission- 

137 


aries, of whom they have only been able to 
send a small number to this vast and unfortu- 
nate country, where it may truly be said ‘‘that 
the harvest, indeed, is great, but the laborers 
are few.’? Hence the need of more mis ion- 
aries and, consequently, of such Colleges as 
that which has just been established at Wash- 
ington. 

The new institution has obtained the hearty 
indorsement of His Eminence Cardinal Gib- 
bons, and a warm recommendation from His 
Excellency, the Apostolic Delegate, Mgr. Se- 
bastian Martinelli, as will be seen from the 
following letters to the Commissary of the 
Holy Land: 


Letter from Bis Eminence, Gardinal 
Gibbons. 


Baltimore, February 24, 1898. 
Rev. Dear Father - 

I have been very much gratified by the 
projected establishment near the Catholic 
University of Washington of a College under 
the care and auspices of the venerable Fran 
ciscan Fathers. I hope that God will bless 
your pious undertaking, and I commend 
your good work to the benevolence and pat- 


vonage of your friends and patrons, and of 
138 ‘ 


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all who specially cherish the virtues of the 
‘good St. Francis, whose life and example you 
are all striving to imitate. 
Faithfully yours tn Christ, 
JAMES, CARD. GIBBONS. 


Letter from Bis Excellency, the 
Apostolic Delegate. 


Washington, D. C., March 2, 1898. 
Rev. Father; 

I have learned with pleasure that you are 
going to build tn Washington a monastery 
for the education of the young men of 
your illustrious order, and especially for 
those who will be the future missionaries of 
the Holy Land. 

Ll hope that God will help and Sige your 
good enterprise. 

With estcem, I have the pleasure of remain- 
ng 

Yours sincerely, 
SEBASTIAN, 
Abp. of Ephesus, Ap. D. 


The object, then, of the new College will be 
the education of such young men as may desire 
140 


to enter the Order of St. Francis with a view to 
laboring as missionaries in the Holy Land. 
Here they will, after completing their novitiate, 
be enabled as clerics, to pursue their higher 
studies in the Catholic University, with which 
the College of the Holy Land has been affili- 
at ed. 

The course at the College of the Holy Land 
will include special instruction in the Oriental 
languages and in the study of Holy Scripture 
and Biblical Archeology. After their ordination 
the young Fathers will be sent to Palestine to 
help their brethren there in the great work 
which the Church has entrusted to them for the 
last seven centuries: (1) the continuation of 
the mission of Christ, viz. : the promotion of 
our Holy Faith in the Holy Land by means of 
missions, schools and works of charity ; (2) the 
preservation of the Sacred Shrines, hallowed by 
the life and death of our Saviour and His 
Blessed Mother ; (3) the civilization and educa- 
tion of the natives to a Christian and social 
life ; (4) the protection and accommodation of 
pilgrims, 


141 


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142 


Laborers for the Harvest. 


‘ Heream TI, for Thou didst call me. Speak, Lord, for 
Thy servant heareth.” 2 Kings, tit. 


It cannot but appeal to generous hearts to 
follow the footsteps of our Lord on the very 
spots hallowed by His earthly career. To live 
in the Holy Land, to work as a missionary at 
the places where our Lord taught and preached 
Himself, to stand guard at the Tomb of Christ, 
and to defend the rights of the Church at the 
Holy Shrines, and to serve the pious pilgrims, 
is certainly a noble vocation, and must be one 
of the greatest ambitions of a young man who 
aspires to religious life. The consideration of 
all these great privileges has prompted thou- 
sands of generous hearts, in the cozrse of the 
centuries, to abandon their homes, and to devote 
themselves to the mission of the Holy Land. 

It must be remembered, however, that those 
who wish to enter the Order of St. Francis, and 
especially those wishing to join the College cf 
the Holy Land, must be ready for a life of mor- 
tification, and must be willing to suffer in their 
missionary career all kinds of hardships, perse- 
cutions, and even death, if necessary, as their 
predecessors during many centuries have suf- 
fered before them. Life in the Holy Land 
differs in very many respects from that in 

143 


cL Co RAT 


St. Francis in Glory, 


144 


America, but the pious missionary, animated by 
the noble sentiments of religion and the sanc- 
tity of his calling, will not seek the comforts of 
life where his Saviour endured the most atro- 
cious sufferings, but his whole endeavor will be 
to promote his own perfection. 

Such boys and students who feel within 
themselves a vocation to follow this mode of 
life will be received in this college and pre- 
pared for their work in the Mission of the Holy 
Land as religious in the Order of St. Francis. 
They must have a good educational foundation, 
be of a docile disposition, bright, in good 
health, and not too far advanced inage. The 
consent of their parents and of their pastor or 
confessor is necessarily required. The college 
has been placed under the special patronage of 
St. Antony, a descendant of Godfrey of Bouil- 
lon, the first King of Jerusalem, and of St. 
Louis, the Crusader King of France. 

The College will also receive postulants, who 
feel a vocation forreligious life and wish to enter 
the Order as lay brothers. 

The Mission of the Holy Land is in need, not 
only of priests, but also of men of various 
trades, such as cooks, bakers, tailors, shoe- 
make:s, carpenters, masons, blacksmiths, 
plumbers, painters, printers, machinists, drug- 
gists, etc. Therefore mechanics and artists of all 

145 


sortscan make themselves very useful. But every 
one must be willing to perform any menial work, 
even the humblest, at a command of his supe- 
rior, who will not fail to assign to him what is in 
accordance with his special qualities and abili- 
ties, so that in most cases the brothers will 
have ample opportunity of continuing in the 
various crafts which they have learned in the 
world by working at their trades in the mis- 
sions and in the various trade-schools estab- 
lished therein. 

Youth in our days is more or less penetrated 
by the ambition to excel in this world, to be 
lhonored and esteemed, and this false ambition 
is the reason why a great many young men as- 
pire to the priesthood, for which they are fitted 
neither by sufficient knowledge nor by their in- 
tellectual qualities. They do not consider that 
the first and last aim 
of a religious must 
be to serve God and 
to work the salvation 
of his own soul, and 
that this can be done 
with greater ease in 
the humble position 
of aley brother. St. 
Francis deemed him- 
In Study. self unworthy of the 


sacerdotal dignity, and a great number of his 
saintly followers in the Seraphic Order, though 
men of learning in some instances, have at- 
tained the summit of perfection by devoting 
themselvesto humble duties. To become a lay 
brother the applicant needs neither learning nor 
riches, but only an earnest determination to 
follow Christ by leading a life of prayer, humil- 
ity and obedience. He enjoys all the privileges 
and benefits of religious life without having the 
responsibilities connected with the priesthood. 


147 


Monastic Life. 


“Tf thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast and give 
to the poor. . . and come foliow me.” Matth. xtx., 21. 


Monastic life is founded deeply in the gospel 
and is its most beautiful flower. It has the 
positive and unequivocal sanction of Christ for 
those aspiring ‘‘to be perfect” and ‘‘ able tore- 
ceive it.’’ Nay, our Lord Himself, the pattern of 
perfection, was, so to say, the first Christian 

148 


monk, and St. John Chrysostom calls monastic 
life ‘‘The Divine Philosophy introduced by 
Christ.’ 

Even in the Old Testament we find the Naza- 
rites who consecrated themselves to God by 
vows. Josephus speaks of the Essenes whose life 
was almost similar to that of the Benedictines. 

From the beginning of Christianity, many 
renounced the pleasures of the world to follow 
the Saviour more closely. The deserts became 
populated with hermits, who later on consoli- 
dated into communities. Thus were founded 
the Orders of St. Antony of Egypt and of St. 
Basil. 

With the develop- 
ment of Christianity 
the monastic spirit 
seized also the West. 
St. Benedict, the 
great Patriarch of 
western monastic- 
ism, erected his mon- 
asteries up n the dé- 
bris of the Roman 
Empire. Lord Ma- 
caulay, when speak- 
ing of the beneficial 
influence of the mon- 
astic institution,says: 


Spiritual Rea ding, 
149 


‘‘Had not such retreats been scattered here 
and there among the huts of a miserable peas- 
antry and the castles of a ferocious aristocracy, 
European society would have consisted merely 
of beasts of burden and beasts of prey.’’ 

The monasteries were beacons of light amidst 
the darkness and the tempest of the great mi- 
gration of nations toward a new Christian civili- 
zation. 

There, adds Mrs. Jameson, the author of 
‘Legends of the Monastic Orders,’’ learning 
trimmed her lamps, there contemplation plumed 
her wings, there the traditions of art, preserved 
from age to age by louely, studious: men, kept 
alive, in form and color, the idea of a beauty 
beyond that of earth, of a might beyond that 
of the spear and the shield, of a divine sym- 
pathy with suffering humanity. 

Apace with Christian civilization new Orders 
sprang up in the Church of Gol, each adapted 
to some special want iu the Church. Among 
the illustrious founders none is more known 
nor more sympathetic than Sweet St. Francis, 
the Poor Man of Assisi. His rule, drawn in great 
outlines, is the strictest enforcement of the 
evangelical virtues and its chief feature is sim- 
plicity and poverty. Even our separated breth- 
ren cannot deny him their admiration and have 
sung his praises. He introduced a new system 

151 


into monastic life which 
was democratic in opposi- 
tion to the hitherto pre- 
vailing monarchical princi- 
ples. While the monks of 
old followed a more con- 
templative life and had 
large possessions, he pre- 
scribed by divine revelation 
that his followers should 
live on charity and follow 
an active career for the 
spiritual regeneration of 
the masses. 

He called them Friars, 
which means brothers, and 
the people regarded them 
as such. 

They soon numbered 
thousands and Cardinal 
Vaughan has admirably 
pictured their activity in 
the following 
beautiful words: 
“We find the 
sam2 Friars who 
nursed the lep- 
ers, who preach- 
ed from the vill- ~% 
age-crosses, w110 


cheered the lab- JA oo : 


152 


Recreation, 


orers in the harvest fields, or the traveler by the 
wayside, who helped the sick, the sorrowful and 
the sinful in the slums of our medizval cities, 
who amused and instructed the multitudes by 
their miracle plays, are the same brotherhood 
who filled with distinction the professorial chairs 
at Oxford, and so took the lead in the very van 
of theological learning asto make our En; lish 
Universities the envy of Europe.” } 

The work of the monks and friars was a noble 
one, and monasticism still exercises a singular 
fascination upon the minds of our days. Dr. 
Johnson, that stanchest of Protestants, tells us 
that ‘‘he never thought of a monastery but in 
imagination he kissed its stones, or of a hermit, 
but in imagination he kissed his feet.”” While 
on the other hand we find Voltaire declaring 
that could the great void of his yearning, 
Christless heart have been filled with the love 
flowing from the atonement of the God-man, ke 
would have had no alternative than that of 
being a monk. 

The monastery is to the outer world a sort of 
mysterious institution. It is in fact a common- 
wealth, founded on the principles of the early 
Christians. There no one possesses anything of 
hisown. There the day is divided up between 
prayerand work. There the practice of the 
evangelical precepts and counsels is strictly 

153 


enforced. Every action hasa higher motive; 
the peace of the soul is not disturbed by human 
cares; the observance of silence renders the 
union of the soul with God easier, and work and 
study more efficacious. Common practices of 
mortification lessen the hardships of a peniten- 
tial life, and incite to a holy emulation. 

How happy is such a life, and how little can 
the 4/asé worldling appreciate its sweetness ; 
but, asin the days of the debauched Roman 
enipire, so in our days of refined pleasures, the 
yearning fora more austere life fills many a 
noble soul, and God leads her into the desert 
that he may speak to her. 

Our Holy Father Leo XIII. has encouraged 
this desire when he solemnly defined the su- 
preme excellence of the older religious orders 
in his Apostolic Letter, dated January 22, 1899. 


” 


Little brothers and sisters- 


“a 


St. Francis and his 


155 


Alverna Chapel. 


“ Bless the Lord, all ye birds of 
the air.” Dan. tit. 80, 


After God men; after men 
j nature. St. Francis linked 
| these terms together in his 
4 mind and in his affection, as 
they are linked in reality and in life. 
As a child his face used to light up at the 
156 


sight of flowers, he delighted to inhale their 
perfume. Asa young man, he was most sensi- 
tive to the beauty of this world. A fine view, 
luxuriant vegetation, the play of light and shade, 
the increasing movement and flow of water, 
all such things he appreciated and loved. 
After his conversion and in later years he did 
not change in this respect. Nature was to him 
always a friend ; she gave him wings for his 
piety. 

To commemorate the love of our Holy Father 
for nature, we have erected a little chapel to his 
honor ina grove atashort distance from the 
Monastery. The lonely spot is surrounded by 
pine and cedar trees where the birds love to 
nestle and where the nightingale sings its even- 
ing song. The seclusion of this retreat re- 
minds us of Mount Alverna where St. Francis 
delighted to dwell in his beloved solitude. The 
little chapel is intended for the use of the Friars 
only and has been erected with theaid of the 
young men’s Tertiary Fraternity of New York. 
It contains a beautiful statue of St. Francis, rep- 
resenting him rapt in meditation and sur- 
rounded by his ‘‘ little brothers and sisters,”’ the 
birds, as he loved to call them. 

We refer here to one of the beautiful inci- 
dents which, though full of simplicity, gave to 
his life the charm of poetry: St. Francis was 

157 


staying on Mount Alverna. He had passed 
through the sufferings and the ecstacy of the 
Stigmata. He was spiritually in a supernatural 
state, but his mind was marvellously open toall 
things, and he was highly sensible to the beauty 
of the world. In the evening the songster ot 
the woods began one of its finest melodies on a 
tree hard by. Francis listened, and was filled 


St. Francts in the Woods. 
158 


with emotion. 
Brother Leo 
was beside him. 
“Answer _it,’’ 
said Francis to 
him. Brother 
Leo excused 
himself, on ac- 
count of his bad 
voice. Francis 
took the part, 
and answered 
the nightingale. 


; ;, The Saint and 
the bird sang 


alternately. 
Part of the night 
was spentin this 
contest. He 
made the bird 
come on his 
hand, caressed 


it gently, congratulated it on having gained 
the victory, and said to Brother Leo: ‘‘ Let us 
give our brother, the nightingale, something 
to eat; he deserves it more than I do.” The 
bird ate some crumbs from the hand of the Ser- 
aphic Father, and flew away with his blessing. 

St. Bonaventure says, that going back to the 
first origin of things, St. Francis considered all 
creatures as having come from the paternal 
bosom of God. For this reason he invited them 
all to glorify their Maker, and composed that 
beautiful hymn of creation, which the moderns 
sometimes call the ‘‘Canticle of the Sun,” 
although he himself called it the ‘‘Song of the 
Creatures.” ‘‘In it we feel,’’ says M. Ozanam, 
“the breath of that Umbrian terrestial para- 
dise, where the sky is so brilliant, and the 
earth so laden with flowers !”’ 

Our little Alverna chapel will be the sanc- 
tuary of this ‘‘ Alleluia of Assisi,’’ which we 
subjoin here for the edification of our readers. 


159 


St. Francis and the Angel, 


160 


Zanticle of the Sun. 


I. Most high, omnipotent and good Lord, 
Thine are praise, glory, honor, and every bene- 
diction. To Thee alone they are due, and no 
man is worthy to name Thee. 

2. Praised be God, my Lord, with all Thy 
creatures, especially our noble brother, the sun, 
who makes the day, and illuminates us with his 
light. Heis beautiful and radiant with great 
splendor. He bears Thy sign, O Lord. 

3. Praised be my Lord for our sister, the 
moon, and for the stars. Thou hast made them 
clear and beautiful in heaven. 

4. Praised be my Lord for our brother, the 
wind, and for the air, for cloudy and for serene, 
and for all weather by which Thou givest suste- 
nance to Thy creatures. 

5. Praised be my Lord for our sister, the water, 
who is so useful, humble, chaste and precious. 

6. Praised be my Lord for our brother, the 
fire, by whom Thou dost illuminate the night, 
and he is beautiful, joyous, very vigorous and . 
strong. 

7. Praised be my Lord for our mother, the 
earth, who nourishes and governs us, and pro- 
duces diverse fruits and colored flowers and 
herhs. 

8. Praised be my Lord for those who pardon 

161 


for Thy love and bear tribul 
ties. Blessed are those who 
for they shall be crowned b 
High. ‘ 
9g. Praised be my Lord for o 


canescape. Woe tothose w 
sin ; blessed are those who are f¢ 
to Thy Holy Will, for the secon¢ 
hurt them. 4 
Io. Praise, bless and thank 
Him with great humility. 


Che Librarian’s Request. 


“Oh, how I love those monks of old, 
The books they read and the beads they told.” 


HE modern world, pro- 
fuse in denouncing 
the Middle Ages as dark, 
forgets that it is indebted 
to the monasteries for 
their treasures of science 
and of ancient literature. 
Whatever precious manu- 
scripts the great libraries 
possess to-day were ob- 
tained from the suppres- 
sion of the olden monas- 
teries, where they had been gathered together 
by the untiring monks. 

As a good library is the student’s armory, we 
have set aside a spacious room in our college for 
this purp-se, and have also begun a small 
museum for instruction and recreation. In order 
to add to their usefulness we respectfully solicit 
donations of books for the library, and curios, 
engravings, coins, stamps and other suitable 
articles for the museum. All such gifts will be 
gratefully acknowledged, and information as to 


our needs will be gladly furnished. 
< 163 


All contributions and communications relat- 
ing to the library and musenm should be ad- 
dressed to 

THE LIBRARIAN, 
Mount St. Sepulchre, 
Washington, D. C. 


164 


Benefactors of the Chapel and 
Zoliege. 

‘ He that hath mercy on the poor lendeth to the Lordand 
Hewilirepay him.” Prov. xi%., 17. 

Trusting mainly in Divine Providence, that 
never abandons anyone who places his whole 
confidence in God, we have undertaken the erec- 
tion of the New College of the Holy Land and 
the Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre without 
means, and re- 
lying entirely 
on the charity 
of our fellow 
men. 

Alms were the 
only resource of 
St. Francis, and 
he resorted to 
them. When 
people collected 
around him in 
the public 
places, he ex- 
plained to them 
that he had un- 
dertaken to re- 
construct the 
Church of St. 
Damian, and for 


St. Francis’ Stone. 


St. Francts Rebuilds the Church of Si. Damian. 


166 


that purpose he required stones, which he begged 
from the generosity of his fellow towusmen- 
“* He who gives me one,” he said, ‘' will have 
one recompense, he who gives metwo will have 
two recompenses, he who gives me three will 
have three,’’ and these promises still hold good 
toward those who aid the sons of St. Francis 
in erecting churches and other buildings for 
their Order. 

In imitation of our Holy Father and with his 
words, we are not ashamed to stand in the pub- 
lic thoroughfares of this great and glorious 
country addressing our fellow citizens with his 
words. 

God has blessed many with abundant means, 
Let them bless God and praise His goodness by 
devoting a part of their surplus to His greater 
glory. All contributions, even the smallest sum, 
will be received gratefully, as much assistance 
will be needed before the new College can be 
carried to completion with success. Charity is 
ingenious and will inspire our friends how best 
to assist us. 

Some benefactors may wish to make a Chapel 
or somie of the Grottos their owh, where the name 
of theirfamily will be handed down to poster- 
ity, and where the pious visitor will pray for 
their souls. Others may wish to be remem- 
bered by erecting an altar or statue to their 

167 


memory, or by donating a window, or by having 
a burning lamp to represent them in one of the 
shrines. Others may wish to provide for the 
education of a student, that they may thus par- 
ticipatein the fruits of his missionary labors. 
Others again, may wish to furmish the Chapel 
with necessary vestments and altar linen, and 
the College with household furniture, cloth- 
ing, bedding, etc. Others finally, whom God 
has not blessed so abundantly with worldly 
means, can at least place a stone in the building 
to their memory, and can further the good work 
among their friends and acquaintances by call- 
ing their attention to the needs of the new Col- 
lege, and by gathering stones for the same. 
Every donation will be appreciated, and the 
grottos and chapels, altars and statues and win- 
dows and lamps, will bear a commemorative 
inscription of those who gave them. Besides a 
record will be kept in the archives of the mon- 
astery of all our benefactors who contributed to 
this perennial monument of God’s own land in 
America. 

In return for their kindness we offer to our 
generous benefactors, in proportion to their do- 
nation, a little souvenir from the Holy Land 
together with the lasting gratitude and a me- 
mento of prayers by the community. 


168 


fhe Hngel of Charity. 


Passing unseen among the hearts of men, the 
Angel of Charity is a sower of seeds of heavenly 
birth, whose harvest is rich in the fruit of good 
deeds and sweet with the odor of Christian vir- 
tue, drawing mankind to the love of God. 

We have entreated this heavenly messenger 
not to forget our institution, and we confidently 
hope that many a generous heart will hearken 
to her appeal in behalf of our new Chapel and 
College. From the poor we ask a prayer, from 
those who possess the goods of this world a 
share according to their means and good will. 
Our friends may know charitable persons will- 
ing to contribute some article toward furnishing 
our chapel or monastery. For this reason we 
give a list of objects needed and their approxi- 
mate cost. 
$1.00— $5.00—Altar linen, altar bells, cruets, 

missal stand, etc. 
$5.0o—A surplice, an alb, a prie-dien. 
$10.00—A small memorial lamp, a pair of 

candlesticks, a stole. 
$15-00—A missal. 
$20.00—A iarge memorial lamp. 
$25.ca—a plain chasuble. 
: 169 


$50.00—A chalice or ciboriun 
broidered chasuble, one of t! 
the Cross. 

$75.00—A silver chalice, 
candelabra. | 

$1c0.00o—A statue, a memori 
remonstrance. 


$200.00—A set of vestments. 
$250.00—A relief-picture for 


the Holy Land. 
$5,000.00—A chapel or grotto. 


170 


Che Dedication of the Chapel. 

The Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis, Sep- 
tember 17, 1899, saw the dedication of the 
Chapel and Monastery. Clear and calm the 
dawning woke into a most beautiful day, whose 
very air seemed to breathe the spirit of the occa- 
sion, rest and holy quiet. Thesolemn exercises 
of the dedication began at 10 o’clock, when the 
procession formed and passed around the Church 
and through the cloister of the Monastery, which 
was blessed by Cardinal Gibbons, attended by 
Bishop Blenk, of Porto Rico, and Mgr. Stephan, 
head of the Indian Missions, and Mgr. Sbarretti, 
and a throng of visiting priests, secular and 
regular. Through the Monastery and to the 
deer of the Church the procession passed, sol- 
emnly dedicating the walls erected to the ser— 
vice of the Most High. As the priests passed 
up the aisle of the Chapel the Litany of the 
Saints was intoned. 

At the beginning of the Solemn Pontifical 
Mass the large Church was thronged, and great 
crowds gathered about the doorways. Mgr. Mar- 
tinelli, the Apostolic Delegate, was the celebrant 
and occupied a throne, draped with white and 
yellow, the Papal colors, on the Epistle side of 
the church. Opposite sat His Eniinence, Cardi- 
nal Gibbons, on a throne of scarlet. The other 


officers of the Mass were the Rey. Dr. Garrigan, 
i7T 


of the Catholic University, assistant priest, the 
Rev. John Bandinelli, C. P., of Baltimore, dea- 
con of the Mass, the Rev.Chrysostom Theobald, 
O.F.M., of Cincinnati, sub-deacon, the Rev. 
J. P. Moran and the Rey. John J. Whitney, S.J., 
president of Georgetown University, deacons of 
honor, and the Rev. G. A. Dougherty, of St. 
Augustine's Church, master of ceremonies. A 
choir of sixty male voices sang the deep, soul- 
reaching tones of Gounod’s Second Mass. The 
Rev. L. F. Kearney, O.P., delivered a sermon 
of remarkable eloquence, carrying out the tra- 
dition by which the Doniinican Fathers have 
been often represented at Franciscan celebra- 
tions, in token of the friendship and sympathy 
between the founders of the two Orders, 

A host of Knights of Columbus, who had 
taken charge of the occasion, were prese=. at 
services. They included more than one thou- 
sand from Washington, several hundred from 
Philadelphia, a great number from Baltimore, 
and groups to the number of 300 were from 
New York, Indianapolis, New Orleans, Wil- 
mington, Del., Altoona, Pa., Syracuse, N. Y. 
Poughkeepsie, N. Y., Chester, Pa., Atlantic 
City and Richmond. After the Mass, Bishop 
Blenk blessed the little chapel of Mt. Alverna 
in the woods. In the afternoon, after the 
Solemn Vespers, the Knights, amid the cheers 

172 


of a multitude, raised two flagsin front of the 
Church, the National banner and the emblem 
of the Holy Land, thus in asense pledging the 
United States to the work of redeeming the 
Sacred Places. Many speeches were made 
dwelling on the work of the Friars Minor in 
America, and prophesying glorious achieve- 
ments for the future. Throughout the day, until 
dusk, crowds continued to pour into the Church 
so that it is thought at least Io,o00 entered the 
doors sometime in the course of the period the 
Church was open to the public. 

And then the joyous ceremonies, the pomp 
and splendor of the day completed, the crimson 
rays of the setting sun gilded tower and cross, 
roof and dome, and the peaceful quiet of the 
twilight gave way to the more peaceful quiet of 
the moonlit night. The stillness lay upon the 
land asa benediction. It was as ifthe blessing 
of St. Francis himself had been fulfilled: 

“* May He turn His countenance towards thee 
and give thee peace.”’ 


173 


Che Holy City, 


A pilgrim to Saint Sepulchre, : 
I had a vision fair, 

I stood in old Jerusalem, 

. Beside the temple there ; 

I heard the children singing, 

And ever as they sang, 
|| Methought the voice of angels 

From heaven in answer rang. || 


Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 
Lift up your gates and sing 
Hosanna in the highest, 
Hosanna to your king. 


And then methought the vision changed, 
The streets no longer rang, 
Hush'd were the glad Hosannas 
The little children sang ; 
174 


The sun grew dark with mystery, 
The morn was cold and chill, 
l|As the shadow of a cross arose 
Upon a lonely hill. || 


Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 
Hark ! how the angels sing 
Hosanna in the Highest, 
Hosanna to your King. 


And once again the scene was chang’d, 
New earth there seemed to be! 

I saw the holy city 
Beside the tideless sea ; 

The Light of God was on its streets, 
The gates were open wide ; 

And all who would might enter, 
And no one was denied. 

No need of moon or stars by night, 
Nor sun to shine by day ; 

Jit was the new Jerusalem, 

That would not pass away. || 


Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 
Sing, for the night is o’er. 

|| Hosanna in the Highest ! 
Hosanna for evermore ! || 


ddapied from the Words of F. E. Weatherly. 


H Word of Thanks, 

We cannot close these pages without giving 
some expression of thanks to our innu- 
merable benefactors whohave contributed “A 
Stone,’’ large or small, toward the Chapel and 
College. God has counted them and recorded 
their names. We take special pride in the fact 
that the poor have helped us so generously. 
St. Francis, the ‘* Poor Saint,’”’ has always had, 
and ever will have, the affection of those he 
loved so well. 

We likewise express our gratitude to those 
kind-hearted benefactors who have donated 
memorial altars, statues, windows, candelabra. 
chalices, vestments, altar linens for the Chapel 
and furniture for the College. Our daily prayers 
shall rise to heaven in their behalf. 

It isto those who make pious works their 
highest ambition that we must still appeal, for 
there are many things yet to be done. We 
would call upon those who form the only no- 
bility our Republic recognizes—the nobility of 
generous Christians—to add another jewel to 
the diadem of our Lord and cover, with their 
temporal gocds, His nakedness. As Mt. St. 
Sepulchre stands in the nation’s capital, we 
should make it a monument to our holy religion 
such as will call forth both the devotion of the 


faithful and the admiration of all. 
176 


VO Eye tie tows cS YR) ILS C= Ss 
SoH t=, Se ‘4 
Ese es 4 DS Ed Te Se ww sec 

{2 


Ss 
Ree ons 
®) Benedicar nbioatucute p 
ws 
"| diatte-ofté dar faciem a 
Se fu ribimilerea¥ tut. 


poo uer tat ulti (utarte 
“H%d¢4 tibi pace 


% Si eon 
ey Dal bene # Be 4 
y fleo te dicat ie: 


, py. 
ir oe 


yom oS ois ES) Bick 


Blessing of St. Francis. 
(Fac-simile of his autograph.) 


The inscription, translated, reads; ‘‘ The 
Lord bless thee and keep thee. May He show 
fis face to thee and have pity on thee. May He 
turn Fis countenance towards thee and give thee 
peace. The Lord bless thee.” 

177 


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